La Sylphide
by Cassia282
Summary: Nina Visser spent her life trying to make other people happy. She intends to do the same in New Ham but it's harder than she expected. Food is in short supply, relationships are tested. The people she relied on are played like pawns. If this is a game, Nina isn't going to win. OC-centric. Grizz has a sister. Non romantic pairing YET. Rated M: language and violence (like the show)
1. Chapter 1

"Alright, last one for a week. We don't want to start a forest fire." Grizz said, holding his joint out for a light. Nina Visser and three boys in letterman jackets stopped beside him. Jason pulled out a second joint and his lighter and passed both to Nina, who lit the joint and passed it back to Jason.

"Hey." said Luke, who Nina affectionately dubbed 'Jock #1'. "What's that?"

He pointed up at some graffiti on the brick wall of the church and the four other high schoolers looked up.

"Graffiti." Clark, aka Jock #2, answered. Nina laughed.

"Yeah, I know it's graffiti, man. But when was the last time you guys saw graffiti in this town?" Luke asked.

"About three seconds ago." Clark said. Nina laughed again and Clark grinned at her, assuming her laughter was because he was being funny and not because she thought he was legit stupid. Jason passed her the joint and she took another hit.

"It's the writing on the wall." Grizz said.

"Yeah, no duh." Clark said, giving Nina a 'can you believe this kid' look. Grizz rolled his eyes.

"That's what it's called. 'The writing on the wall'. From the Bible, book of Daniel." Grizz explained. "Mene mene tekel upharsin."

"Is it supposed to be ironic?" Nina asked. Her brother shrugged in response.

"Why do you always know shit I don't know?" Clark asked Grizz.

"It's probably all the weed you smoke." Nina told him. She patted Clark on the chest in condolence and Jason laughed.

"It's nonsense." Jason said, blowing on the tip of his joint to keep it from going out.

"It's Hebrew." Grizz corrected. "It means you've been weighed in the balance and found wanting."

"No. It means someone was definitely fucking high last night." Clark says, his own eyelids weighed heavy by the weed he just smoked.

Clark started walking towards the busses, Jason and Luke slowly following him. Grizz stayed back to look at the graffiti one last time and Nina waited with him. A few seconds later, he pulled Nina away from the wall and towards his friends by her backpack and the two of them walked past the throng of parents bidding their children goodbye.

Nina and Grizz had already said goodbye to their parents. Including their moms twenty minute speech about being good and eating vegetables and how she and God love them and God is watching. Always watching. Especially you two. Because Jesus loves you. So be _good_. It was almost as awful as the time she made Grizz quit dance class because good Christian boys play football or whatever.

The only thing Nina got from the speech is that she's going to be parentless in the Smoky Mountains for ten days and she can't fucking wait. No overbearing moms. No emotionally distant fathers. No guilt trips about how much she's disappointing Jesus by wearing mini skirts. Just lots and lots of weed, beers, and hot dumb jocks. Nina _loves_ hot dumb jocks. The only things holding her back from going on a full Smoky Mountain bender was Grizz and Helena. She didn't have much time to think about it though because with a combination of the weed and being smooshed between Jason and Grizz, Nina was really sleepy. She fell asleep shortly after the buses passed the 'You are now leaving West Ham' signs.

Nina woke up to a blinding light. Okay, not blinding so much as dull and flickering but still. She groaned, trying to pull her hat over her eyes before she remembered that she wasn't wearing a hat and the 'hat' she was trying to pull over her eyes was a letterman jacket. She wasn't sure who it belonged to. The buses screeched to a stop and the students around her started waking.

"Change of plans." The bus driver announced boredly. "Rock slides, road is closed. You're back home."

The bus drivers couldn't wait to kick all the kids off and leave them standing in the middle of the empty park. They pulled away from the curb as soon as the last student stepped off the bus and into the misty night. Grizz pulled Nina into his side and tucked his arm around her, a nervous habit he'd had since they were little kids. The three jocks from earlier, plus Helena, joined them in the middle of the group of confused students. A few people pulled out their phones and tried to call their parents but no one answered.

"Maybe everyone's asleep?" Helena offered as an answer.

No one seemed to buy it but they didn't have any other ideas. The mist was quickly turning into a thunderstorm.

"Maybe someone is home." Grizz suggested, pulling Nina tighter into him when the wind blew.

"Yeah." Helena agreed. "Let's just go home."

She gave Luke a look and he nodded, slipping his letterman jacket over her shoulders and grabbing her backpack. Cassandra Pressman agreed with Helena and quickly, everyone followed their lead. Kids wandered off to their own houses and the park cleared out. Grizz and Nina walked to an empty house on Main Street.

Once they got home, Grizz unlocked the door and started looking around for any sign of parents. Nina grabbed a towel and started ringing the rain out of hair, waiting for Grizz to find their parents and explain everything. Her phone started blowing up with texts from the cheer squad, Helena, Kelly Aldrich, and even Elle Tomkins, who Nina had barely talked to since she quit ballet. No one could find their parents or any explanation for where they went.

Grizz trudged back into the living room, phone in hand, and sat across from his little sister.

"None of the guys know where their parents are either." He told her. She tried to keep the worried look off her face. Grizz was always anxious and she didn't want to cause him more stress. Nina's phone went off again.

"Kelly wants to know if you have any data."  
"No." Grizz focuses on his texts too. "We're supposed to meet at the gazebo."

The walk back to the gazebo was much faster than the walk home. It had stopped raining and everyone was trying not to freak out. Clark met Nina and Grizz half way and they walked to the park together. There was already a small crowd when the three of them showed up.

"Hey, so who decided we needed a flash mob?" Grizz asked as soon as they were in earshot of the crowd.

"I did." Cassandra Pressman said.

"What the fuck, Cassandra?" Grizz asked. Nina gave Clark a 'can you believe this bitch' look and he laughed.

"Better than 200 people sending texts." Cassandra pointed out. "Has anyone been able to reach anyone?"

"No." Said pretty much everyone.

"No-one? Well… there's… there's definitely a simple explanation." Cassandra said.

"Like what?" Jason asked.

"Like… Um. They, uh- they were evacuated. After we left. And there was a miscommunication, and we were brought back here by mistake." Cassandra supplied.

"Someone would still answer a phone." Kelly pointed out.

"Maybe they're asleep." Cassandra countered. "I don't know. Maybe they're some place without reception. They're in a shelter with no reception. In the morning, someone will answer a phone."

"Maybe it's not safe for us to be here, if they all left." Elle said nervously.

"A couple hours isn't going to make a difference." Cassandra said. "We'll figure this all out in the morning. Right now we should just go home."

"So, you made us all come out here just to tell us to go to bed?" Nina asked.

"Yeah. We should all just go home. And if anyone doesn't want to be alone, they can come back to our house." Cassandra said. Allie nodded along.

Cassandra and a few other people left but most of the students stayed in the park, not wanting to go to empty houses but not knowing what to do.

"Well, fuck it." Clark said loudly. "No parents? I say, let's fucking party."

Clark got a small cheer in response and he turned back to Grizz and Nina.

"I've got beer at my house. Wanna grab some?" He asked Grizz. Grizz nodded and turned back to Nina.

"Do you want me to walk you home first?" He asked.

"And miss out on drinking all of Clark's beer? I think I'll stay." She answered with a small smile. Grizz gave her a nervous look in return but Luke and Helena overheard and Luke pulled Nina over.

"We've got her, Grizz. No worries, man." Luke assured him. Nina rolled her eyes at Helena and Helena gave her an amused smile. Clark dragged Grizz down the road toward his house, leaving Nina with Luke and Helena. Nina gave them an annoyed look and Helena laughed.

"He treats me like a five year old." She complained.

"He's just worried about his little sister. It's sweet." Helena said.

"It's Clark's fault." Luke explained. When Nina and Helena gave him confused looks, he explained further. "Remember that Homecoming party at Harry's last year? Clark and Jason started making bets about who could get you into bed first and the angrier Grizz got, the more jokes they made. I'd never seen Grizz so mad at them before. They thought it was hilarious."

"Well, that's super patriarchal and gross." Nina said, unimpressed.

"Where were you when they did this?" Helena asked Luke accusingly. Luke smiled awkwardly.

"This isn't one of those stupid pacts that ends up with me not getting laid 'til I'm like, 30, is it?" Nina asked. Luke shrugged. "That's such bullshit. I'm gonna kick all their asses."

"Who's asses are you kicking?" Jason (Jock #3) asked. He threw his arm around Nina's shoulders, the six pack of beer in his hand knocking into her chest.

"Yours." Luke told him. Nina took a beer out of the six pack and Jason gave her a fake glare.

"I'd like to see you try, Visser." He joked.

"Please don't encourage her." Helena begged. "We all know how this is going to end."

"Yeah." Nina agreed, popping open the can. "I'm going to beat up the entire football team and everyone will crown me queen of West Ham."

"More like you're going to get wasted and try to fight Clark until both of you end up bruised and passed out and Luke has to carry you home." Helena said. Nina scoffed but everyone else laughed at Helena's likely outcome.

"Sounds good to me." Jason said, cracking open a beer for himself. "I love drunk Nina."

"Drunk Nina's the best." Nina agreed. The two of them cheers'ed their beers and started chugging. Helena sighed and Luke gave her a 'what can ya do' look before taking a beer for himself.

Kids started trickling into the park with their parents liquor bottles in their hands. If the parents are MIA, they can't get in trouble for drinking all of moms vodka, can they? Even Helena was two beers deep when Clark found out the church was unlocked. The party moved inside, despite Helena's disapproval of getting plastered in a sacred space. Nina didn't like upsetting her friend but she also didn't feel like standing outside in the dark alone so she moved inside with everyone else.

If there was one thing the kids of West Ham could do, it was throw parties. It was probably a rich kid thing. Never ending funds meant never ending beer and there was never a fear of getting arrested when basically everyone's mom was a lawyer. Someone found the PA system in the church and started blasting dance music. Nina's only hope was that beer was good for your hair, as boys started pouring bottles of the stuff on everyone they could. Even Grizz partook in a shotgunning contest with Nina. She won. She was in the process of celebrating her win and hounding her brother over his loss when Kelly finally got Nina's attention.

"Hey! I've been looking for you." Kelly shouted over the music. Nina hopped down from her spot on a pew so she could hear her friend.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Have you seen Harry?" Kelly asked. Nina looked around but her height didn't give her any advantages so she stood on the pew again, this time with Kelly's help. She found Harry groping some girl drenched in beer and hopped down from the pew.

"He's uh… over there with Hannah." Nina said awkwardly, pointing in the direction of Kelly's soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. Kelly huffed and stormed over to them and Nina slipped through the crowd in the opposite direction.

"Nina!" Grizz had to shout over the beer chugging contest to be heard. Nina whipped around at the sound of her name and Grizz forced his way through the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Nina asked, her words slurring together.

"The writing on the wall is gone." Grizz said. Nina frowned.

"Is that like… a metaphor?" She asked confusedly. She suddenly grinned. "Or a quote! You love quotes."

Grizz rolled his eyes and grabbed Nina's arm to lead her out of the church.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Taking you home." Grizz explained, clearly annoyed at his younger sister's antics. Nina huffed but didn't stop Grizz from dragging her out of the church. She was sleepy.

"Will you carry me?" She asked as the two of them stepped into the cool night air.

"Nope." He answered.

"Please."

"No."

"Pretty please." She begged. Grizz groaned and squatted so she could jump on his back, mostly to shut her up. Nina cheered on hopped up, letting Grizz carry her all the way back to their house.

* * *

Nina woke up to an incessant buzzing sound. Every time her phone stopped vibrating it would start again within a few seconds. Her head was throbbing and her eyes were burning and to top it off, she forgot to eat last night so she felt too sick to stand up and get breakfast. Her phone started buzzing again.

"What the fuck do you want, Gareth?" She snapped. Grizz made a shushing noise on the other end of the phone that stabbed directly into Nina's brain.

"Did you eat yet?" He asked. Nina groaned at the thought of food and Grizz took that as an answer. "I left food on your nightstand."

Nina hadn't actually opened her eyes all the way yet. The cloudy gray sky was shining too brightly through her curtains. But when she looked at the nightstand she saw a large glass of water and a box of cereal.

"Okay." She said, closing her eyes again.

"Eat it and meet us at the bridge." Grizz told her.

"Why?"  
"Just do it. It's important."

Grizz hung up before she could complain again and Nina rolled her eyes. She still felt awful but the stressed tone of her brother's voice made her get up. She took off her beer stained clothes from the night before and put on some clean ones before grabbing the box of cereal and taking it with her. She munched on the food as she walked to the bridge.

Grizz was waiting for her, along with his friends, Kelly, Allie and Cassandra, Gordie and Bean, Becca, Sam, and Campbell. They all looked worried. Probably because the road was suddenly blocked off with dense forest that wasn't there yesterday. Nina had to force herself to keep walking towards it but she couldn't quite convince herself that it was real. The group greeted her with tight smiles and nervous looks.

"What the fuck is that?" She asked quietly. It was the only thing she could say. No one could give her an answer and Grizz pulled her into his side.

"I mean… there's only so many options." Gordie said, trying to work it out in his head.

"Maybe we're dreaming." Allie offered. Nina had the same thought but it would be weird for them all to have the exact same dream. Maybe she's the only one dreaming and she just needs to wake up. Shit, maybe she's in a coma or something. "It's the best option."

"Maybe this is just some elaborate fucking game." Harry said. "Like someone built an exact replica of our town and put it in the middle of nowhere and if we just walk… like, this way or that way or any way, eventually we'll get back to the… the real world."

No one seemed to buy Harry's option.

"Who has that kind of time? Or money?" Nina asked, her hand still digging in the box of cereal.

"I'm not saying it makes any sense." He defended.

"There was a smell, and then it went away, and it came back, and the busses came for us." Cassandra said. Nina rolled her eyes and Grizz took some of the cereal to stress eat.

"You're gonna just work this out, Cassandra? Like some logic problem? I mean, not a flicker of a doubt?" Harry asked.

"The world doesn't just turn upside down without a reason. We're not in some play-within-a-play. Okay? Clever is not the same thing as true. There is a point to everything and there are answers." Cassandra said.

"That's right." Helena agreed. "God doesn't just play games with people for fun."

"Alright, look, Grizz and I will get a group together and we'll go hike out of here together through the woods, okay? Like a search party." Luke said.

"I think that's a good idea." Helena said, agreeing with her boyfriend.

"Do you think that's safe?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah, sure." Grizz said.

"Yeah, Grizz knows what he's doing. And if there's people out there, we gotta find them, right? You know, to get help." Luke said.

"I'm leaving. I'm hungry." Harry said. He started getting in his car, probably planning on leaving everyone else on the bridge, when Allie stood up to stop him.

"You're leaving?" She asked.

"Yeah. I've got a house with a refrigerator with food inside of it, and I'm gonna go eat it." Harry said like Allie was stupid.

"You can't just leave." Cassandra said.

"Well, what are we supposed to do instead?" Harry asked.

"We have to figure out what's happening to us." Cassandra said.

"You're not student council president anymore." Harry said.

"God, you really need to get over that!" Cassandra said. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Are you coming with, Kel?" Harry asked. Kelly looked at the ground.

"No." She said.

"Jesus Christ, just get in the car." Harry told her.

"Leave her alone." Will said, standing up for Kelly.

"Hey, fuck off, Will." Harry said. He looked down at Kelly but she didn't meet his eyes and he got even angrier. "Fine. Who gives a shit?"

Harry got in his car and sped off. At the same time, Campbell whipped out his phone and snapped a picture of the blocked road. Cassandra begged him not to send it and he sent it to everyone in town with a chaotic smirk.

"We should get out of here, before everyone starts swarming." Becca said, signing as she spoke so that Sam could understand. The group agreed and started walking back towards town. Grizz still had his arm firmly around his little sister, mostly to ease his anxiety. He kept squeezing and loosening his grip on her shoulder and it was starting to hurt when he suddenly let go.

"Luke and I will get our group together and leave this afternoon." He decided. Luke and Helena nodded along. "We'll get enough food for five days, that'll give us time to walk to… New Haven, probably."

"That sounds good." Cassandra said.

"You're staying here." Grizz told Nina.

"Why?" She asked. She didn't actually want to walk through the woods for a week but she hated being told what to do.

"Uh, because last time you went camping you tripped over a stick and broke your arm." He said.

"I was six." She pointed out. Grizz shrugged.

"There are no doctors here." Grizz said. It was only meant as a point to keep Nina in West Ham but it made everyone uneasy.

After Grizz left that afternoon, Nina was lost. She didn't want to admit it to anyone, especially herself, but she was scared. She tried calling her parents but the line would just ring and ring until she couldn't listen anymore and she had to hang up. Her house was eerily quiet. She couldn't go to the grocery store without getting trampled. She was grateful when Helena finally called her and asked her to go to the church. She arrived late in the afternoon, armed with trash bags and Clorox wipes.

Helena was thankful enough that Nina helped her clean up the trash that she didn't even mention Nina's help in making the trash. The church reeked of stale beer and the scent was starting to make Nina's hangover come back when Helena's phone rang with a call from Grizz. She took the call outside and looked worried when she came back in.

"What did he want?" Nina asked. Helena dropped her arms to the side and sighed nervously.

"I don't know. He didn't say. Just that they're coming back tonight and they want everyone to meet here." Helena told her.

Nina was worried. The only upside she could think of was this if Grizz was calling, he wasn't hurt. But that made her think that Luke was hurt and she really liked Luke. She started stress cleaning the pulpit and almost had it sparkling by the time the rest of the town arrived. Allie quickly grew tired of Nina's loud scrubbing and pulled her into a pew so she would stop. Instead she took out her phone and stared at it, waiting for news from her brother. Helena did the same, calling Luke and letting the line ring when she got no response.

"Anything?" Cassandra asked.

"He's not answering. Neither is Grizz." Helena said. She tugged on the cross necklace she always wore and shoved her phone away.

"They must be headed back here. That's why they wanted us together." Harry reasoned.

"So fast." Kelly said. "Twelve hours. They must have found something."

"Or maybe they found nothing. Why wouldn't they say if it was good news?" Helena asked.

"Grizz wouldn't just come back if they found nothing. He would keep looking. Something must have happened." Nina said. Helena took a sharp breath and Nina felt bad. She offered Helena her hand and she gripped it tightly. Cassandra stood up.

"Listen. Hey, listen up!" Cassandra got everyone's attention. "While we're all here together, there are some things we ought to figure out. Before we rip this place apart and maybe… you know, start hurting each other."

Nina squeezed Helena's hand and Helena squeezed back.

"I don't know what is going on." Cassandra continued. "Maybe Luke will come back with some good news."

"Maybe? Of course he will." Elle said. Nina remembered her old friend as being inherently pessimistic, maybe she'd changed.

"Yeah. Why don't we just wait and see, Cassandra?" Harry asked, always taking any excuse to disagree with his childhood enemy.

"Because I would rather prepare for the worst before the worst happens." Cassandra explained.

"What does that mean? Prepare?" Kelly asked.

"I don't know specifically. I think it means we agree not to just take things when we want. Until all the food is gone and we starve." Cassandra said.

"Well, I'd agree to that." Allie said. A few people mumbled an agreement.

"This is bullshit." Harry complained.

"Jesus, man. What is your problem?" Will asked. Nina rolled her eyes at the two boys who constantly fought and leaned her head against Clarks shoulder.

"What are we agreeing to?" Harry asked. "Which one of us gets to decide who gets what? Your friend?"

"It's called democracy." Becca said.

"I'm not a fucking idiot." Harry said back.

"How do you want us to decide things?" Cassandra asked Harry. "Every person for themselves? Then we're back to where we started. Maybe you want to flip a coin to see who decides? You don't like democracy? How about random fucking chance?"

Cassandra pulled out a quarter and Harry scoffed.

"Call it, Harry. Call it." She taunted.

"I'm not gonna do that." Harry said.

"No? Okay. Okay, I'll call it for you. You get heads." Cassandra said. She flicked the coin into the air, caught it, and set it on her other hand. "It's tails. Still think it's unfair? Best two out of three."

Cassandra flipped the coin in the air again. Tails. She flicked it again. Tails. And again. Tails. She started to look scared.

"Do it again." Harry said. She did.

"Tails." She whispered. She flipped the coin three more times. All tails. Harry swore. Cassandra flipped the coin again and let out a sigh of relief.

"Heads." She held up the coin and everyone let out a collective sigh. Helena's grip on Nina's hand loosened slightly. Cassandra looked around at the worried faces of her fellow students and knew she had to say something.

"It's all up to us. There's no civilization here, not until we start one. So, what are we going to do? First, I think we have no choice but to share. Share food. Share resources."

"Houses?" Harry asked.

"Maybe." Cassandra said.

"Fuck you." Harry scoffed.

"Really? How much electricity do we have?" Allie asked Harry. "Until it's all used up and everything goes dark. I think 225 people in 200 houses doesn't make sense."

"Keep what's ours!" A boy in the back demanded.

"What is yours?" Cassandra asked him. "Do you have money? Who you gonna pay? The things that you need to live: food, clothes, the stuff in stores, no one owns them."

"Are we gonna fight each other over food?" Will asked sarcastically. "That's fucking crazy."

"That's because you have nothing. And some of us have things that others want. Right, Will? Like houses or girlfriends." Harry said.

"Don't be a dick, Harry." Nina said before she could stop herself. Will ignored her outburst.

"Right, I have no house. The place that I used to live in is outside of town. It doesn't exist. You want me to just live on the streets?" Will asked. Harry smiled.

"You can live wherever you want. Just not with me." He said.

"You can stay with us." Allie told Will.

"I don't have to listen to this. Not anymore." Harry said, standing up and walking towards the door. Cassandra walked after him.

"Harry, this has nothing to do with you-" Cassandra was cut off by a gunshot echoing through the church. Everyone dropped to the floor except for Campbell Elliot, who held the gun proudly in the air.

"Well… fuck this." Campbell announced boredly. He let the gun hang loosely at his side and sauntered up the main aisle. "Harry's right. No one elected you king, cousin. Did anybody vote for her? Did they? Anybody elect her on their behalf? No?"

Cassandra stood up nervously and held her hands out towards Campbell.

"I- I… I don't want to be king." Her voice was calm but Cassandra stuttered.

"That's not what it looks like. Is it?" Campbell asked. He raised the gun and aimed it at Cassandra's heart. Allie stood quickly and stepped between her cousin and her sister but Cassandra pushed her out of the way.

"I've thought a lot about dying. I've almost gotten used to that. But I don't like to be afraid. Do you want chaos? Fucking shoot me." Cassandra said. Campbell laughed but the cold look didn't leave his eyes.

"I don't want to shoot you." He dropped his arm again. The way he held the gun so casually made Nina nervous. "I just wanted to get everybody's attention. This meeting's obviously over. We'll be back when Luke gets here. Until then, if anybody else is tired of listening to her, you can follow me."

Harry stood, giving Cassandra another glare. A few other people stood as well and started to follow Campbell out of the church but were stopped when the doors opened from the other side. Grizz was back, along with the rest of the exploration group. Luke was holding the body of one of the girls. Everyone froze and stared as Luke carried her to the front of the church and set her body on the table. It was clear, then, that she wasn't breathing. Nina stood and pushed through the crowd to get to her brother. She clung to his arm. Everyone was silent, waiting for an explanation or some guidance.

"She died from a snakebite." Luke said, his voice thick with grief. "Her whole body just shut down. We did everything we could but we couldn't save her."

"So, we're gonna bury her tomorrow. Before it starts to smell." Grizz said. His face was stained with tears and Nina pulled his arm around her and hugged him. Grizz hugged her back while he spoke. "So, I'm gonna need a couple guys. Clark?"

"Yeah. No problem." Clark agreed, He set a comforting hand on Nina and patted Grizz.

"There's nothing out there, guys. Just a whole bunch of… just woods that go on forever. We're all alone. This isn't our home." Luke said.

A few people stepped towards the girl, saying goodbye. Helena prayed for her before comforting Luke. Allie and Cassandra were the first to leave. Everyone else slowly followed, trickling out in silence. The gravity of their situation weighing on them as they walked back to their homes.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been ten days since the buses brought everyone back to West Ham. Ten days of parentless debauchery, parties, and fear. Nina woke up that morning with the last drop of hope in her mind. Today was the day that the students were supposed to come home. Maybe, just maybe, their parents would come to pick them up, Nina hoped. For the first time in years, Nina prayed. Still in her pajamas, she knelt at the end of her bed and clasped her hands.

_Jesus, or God, or whoever. If anyone is listening… we're here. We're still here. Please, come back for us. _

Nina's phone chimed. For a split second, she let herself wonder if it was her mom. She picked it up and tried not to be disappointed that it was only Allie telling her about the weird ceremony taking place in the park. She tossed her phone back on the bed and clasped her hands together again.

_I know I haven't prayed in a while and I probably should have but… well… if you are out there, thank you for listening. Please… call me back, God. Or Jesus. Or whoever. Whomever? Whatever, that's not the important part. Amen._

Nina stood and made a mental note to ask Helena for prayer advice while she got dressed. She'd heard Grizz leave earlier that morning, probably to go to the grave site. She took the last swig of orange juice from the fridge and the last poptart from the cabinet before joining her friends at the park.

"And I thought my prayers were weird." Nina joked as she walked up to Helena and Allie in the gazebo. Helena gave her an unamused smile

"Useless." She said, looking away from the group.

"Never would have pegged Lexie for a conduit of the heavens." Cassandra commented.

"You have to admit, they're fair questions, given the circumstances." Allie said.

As if their prayers were being answered, the sky suddenly darkened. Everyone stared up at the sun, which looked as if it were being swallowed by the moon.

"We asked for a sign." Lexie said loudly.

"What does it mean?" One of the praying boys asked. Gordie scoffed from his seat in the gazebo.

"It doesn't mean anything." He said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "It's a fucking solar eclipse. It's not a sign. It's a predictable astronomical event. Just don't stare at it and we'll be fine."

Everyone kept staring at it anyway until eventually, the moon moved away and the sun was shining brightly again. Nina quickly got bored of watching Lexie and her friends pray. She went to look behind the church for her brother and saw him sitting next to Emily's grave. Her friends had set pictures and flowers around the grave as a makeshift headstone and vigil. Grizz visited it every morning, no doubt blaming himself for not being able to magically cure her snakebite. He startled when Nina sat beside him.

"Hey." She greeted quietly. Grizz nodded a greeting, not taking his eyes off Emily's picture. "Uh, I was going to go to the old studio… then stop by the store before going home for lunch. We're running pretty low on food."

"Are you gonna go with Elle?" Grizz asked.

"Maybe." Nina said. She and Elle had danced in the same classes for years before Nina switched to cheer leading.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Grizz asked.

"No, it's cool. I was just letting you know. Do you have any plans for the day?" Nina asked. She knew the best way to keep herself from getting depressed was to keep herself distracted. She figured her brother was the same.

"Uh, yeah. There's gonna be a game of Fugitive after it gets dark. You wanna join?" Grizz asked.

"Being chased around town by a bunch of jocks in sports cars sounds like literal hell, so no. Thanks though. I'll meet up with you at Harry's party." She said. Grizz gave her an anxious look and she nudged his arm with her shoulder. "Stop worrying so much."

"One of us has to worry. I don't want you to have another seizure. You could like, bite off your tongue. Or worse. And there's no doctors." Grizz worried.

"It was one time. I know better now. Less beer, more food. And I still have those sugar pills the doctor gave me in case I pass out." She said. Grizz didn't seem to relax at all. Nina sighed. She knew her brother was probably traumatized by Emily's death but she had no idea what to do to fix it. "Call me if you need anything, or if you have any special requests from the store. I'm pretty sure everyone stocked up on cheetos and Gatorade and left all the real food."

Grizz nodded and Nina stood, leaving her brother at Emily's grave. She found the dance studio unlocked and the CD player in the same place it had always been. She started stretching and warming up, and eventually dancing. She danced until her stomach started growling and her bangs were stuck to her forehead with sweat.

By the time Nina got to the grocery store, her hands were shaking with hunger. She chided herself for not leaving the dance studio earlier and ripped into a bag of tortilla chips to munch on while she 'shopped'. She groaned in delight at the taste of the salty chips and shoved another handful in her mouth when she heard voices. Nina nervously peaked around the corner of the aisle but relaxed when she saw Kelly and Will staring at her.

"Jesus, I thought you were a wild animal." Will joked. Nina popped another chip in her mouth and walked closer to them.

"I'm starving. What are you doing?" She asked.

"Uh... Food census." Kelly answered.

"Minus one bag of tortilla chips." Nina said. Will sighed and scrolled through his spreadsheet. "Is it cool if I take some food? We're out. I can help with the… counting thing, too."

"Yeah. Just tell us what you took so we have an accurate list." Kelly told her.

"If you really want to help, you can start at the warehouses. I'll send you the form." Will said.

"Sure." Nina agreed. Will slid his computer towards her and she typed in her phone number. "I'll just take my stuff home and grab my laptop."

"Oh, and don't tell anyone." Will said. "We're trying not to… you know, cause a panic or whatever."

Nina nodded and said goodbye to the pair before stocking up on food she and Grizz needed. She took it home and took a shower to wash off her dance sweat and walked to the warehouses. She figured she had a few hours to work before Harry's party.

The warehouses were seriously creepy. Nina regretted not asking Grizz to come with her before reminding herself that she was a strong ass woman who didn't need her brother to protect her. She did, however, keep a crowbar she'd found close by.

The warehouse was easier to take stock of than the grocery store. At least, after Nina was able to estimate how many of each item were in a crate. Her numbers weren't exact, as she didn't want to crack open each crate to make sure, so she low-balled it. Better to have more food than too little. She worked until her old iPod died and made it through almost two rows of food. Her main concern was how they were going to get the food down from the shelves. Maybe someone knew how to use a forklift. Bean could probably figure it out.

She was halfway home when a cop car with it's sirens on screeched to a stop less than a foot away from her. The window rolled down and Clark was grinning at her from inside the car.

"Clark, what the fuck?! You could have hit me." Nina shouted.

"But I didn't." Clark pointed out. "Now, get in. We've got fugitives to catch."

"I'm not playing Fugitive." Nina said. She got in the car anyway, making sure to buckle her seat belt since she knew how Clark liked to drive. "Drive me home?"

Clark stomped on the gas pedal, forcing the car to squeal it's tires against the wet asphalt before peeling down the street. Nina gripped the seat belt, her knuckles turning white.

"You used to love playing Fugitive with us." Clark said. He glanced at Nina but thankfully kept his eyes mostly on the road.

"Yeah. I loved Fugitive _before_ I hit puberty." Nina explained with a laugh. "Then it stopped being Fugitive and turned into 'Grope Me In The Moonlight'."

"Don't be like that, Nina." Clark jokingly complained. "You know I'd grope you any time of the day."

"Oh, really? How does Gwen feel about that?" Nina asked. Clark's smile dropped for a second but he plastered on a careless look.

"Honestly… I don't think she'd really care." He said quietly. To counteract the mood drop, Clark took a sharp turn and the tires slid across the road. Nina swore and Clark laughed. Thankfully the drive to Nina's house was short, and made shorter by Clark's insane driving. He screeched to a stop outside Nina's house and she ripped the door open.

"Want me to wait for you?" Clark asked.

"Nah. I'll meet you at Harry's. You have fugitives to catch." She said. She shut the car door and Clark peeled out again. Nina never understood boys obsessions with driving recklessly.

She put away her laptop and changed into party appropriate clothes. She barely made it to Harry's house before the light rained turned into another thunderstorm. The inside of the house was much cheerier. People had already started drinking and were packed inside the kitchen and living room to avoid the rain. Nina found her brother and his friends sitting on the kitchen counter and joined them. She took the beer Jason offered her and forced Grizz to make space for her on the counter top.

They all sat around talking for a while but the conversation died down when the lights started flickering.

"Hey, what happens when they go off for good?" Gwen asked after a particularly long flicker. "Who fixes them? I'm serious. Who turns them back on?"

"Maybe they never go back on." Grizz said.

"Hey, got any flashlights?" Jason asked Harry.

"I don't know. Maybe somewhere." Harry answered. He held up his phone. "And iPhone ones."

"Those'll never last." Jason pointed out.

"Alright. Expedition to the hardware store for flashlights!" Clark announced. "Who's in?"

The lights dimmed again.

"Oh, shit. We should get home before it gets really bad out there. Before the streetlights go out." Olivia said. Nina tried not to act like a baby but she reached for Grizz's hand in the dark.

"Well, you can all stay here if you want." Harry offered. No one seemed very keen on the idea. The lights turned back on.

"Well, I'm going home." Helena announced. A few of the girls followed Helena out but Nina lagged behind with her brother. Most of the guys, including Grizz, went out to get flashlights and the party quickly died down. Nina hopped off the counter and joined Harry, who kept glancing nervously at the lights.

"Hey… if you don't want to stay here you can always stay with me and Grizz." She offered.

"Why would I want to do that? I have my own house." He said. Nina rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Forget I offered." She said. She turned to Allie who was watching both of them with a weird look in her eye. "Wanna walk home together?"

"Uh… I think I'm gonna stay for a while, actually." Allie said. Nina looked between Allie and Harry, the two of them sharing the same weird energy.

"Okay." Nina said awkwardly. "See you around, then."

She started the walk home in the pouring rain, taking mostly side streets until she heard a huge bang and shouting. She veered towards Main Street and stopped in the middle of the road when she saw what was happening. People were looting all the stores. A car had been set on fire and was burning in front of the hardware store. That must have been the explosion she'd heard. She ducked under an eave when a group of kids ran past her, their arms filled with stolen loot. She couldn't wrap her mind around the chaos. In fact, her only thought was 'fuck this shit. I'm going home'.

As Nina walked home in the rain, dodging broken glass and rioters, she thought about her parents. She thought about God. And she thought about the writing on the wall. Mene mene tekel upharsin. You've been weighed in the balance and found wanting. She hoped it was wrong. Because if things didn't calm down quickly, they'd all be wanting. Food, water, shelter. It was all being destroyed and soon, there wouldn't be anything left.


	3. Chapter 3

Nina was surprised when she got a text from Cassandra asking to meet at the church. She was also confused. She left Grizz a plate of breakfast and walked to the meeting. When she arrived, Cassandra wasn't there. Nina sat on the raised floor in the front of the church with Becca. She didn't remember seeing Becca at the party the night before but Becca looked hungover anyway. The doors opened and Jessica Watson strutted in, dressed to the nines in a lime green sparkly dress.

"Did Cassandra text you too?" She asked no one in particular.

"Was there a dress code we didn't know about?" Becca asked sarcastically. Nina laughed but Jessica wasn't affected.

"I spent 700 bucks on this and it's not like I'm going to be wearing it to prom." She said, sitting in the pew.

"You spent 700 dollars on a dress?" Nina asked. Jessica raised an eyebrow at her and Nina dropped the issue.

Becca shifted so that Nina could read her magazine over Becca's shoulder while she browsed. A few minutes later, Cassandra and Allie finally showed up. Cassandra got all the girls to form a circle on the floor so they could talk more intimately.

"Okay, so last night was crazy." She started. No one denied it so Cassandra continued. "Boys we thought we knew destroyed those stores last night. And if we don't do something, male testosterone is going to be the end of us."

"Is that why it's just girls here?" Helena asked. Cassandra nodded.

"Right now it's just pillage. But how long until someone's raped walking home at night and no one cares because that's just how it is?" She asked.

"Okay. I'm sorry no one wanted to date you in high school, Cassandra, but this war on men feels a little extra." Gwen said.

"Shut the fuck up, Gwen." Kelly snapped. Nina snorted and tried to cover it up with a cough.

"Everything that kept us safe is gone." Cassandra said. "There isn't anyone to say no. And when you stop hearing no, you begin to think that you can do anything. Women aren't safe in a world that's run by brute force and stupidity. If we want peace, we need order. And to get order, we need to exert our power."

"Like… how?" Nina asked. "Cause I can take Grizz and maybe Harry but I don't think I'm stronger than the other guys."

"Not physical force, Nina." Cassandra said, smiling at the joke but keeping the meeting serious. "Womanly force."

"Like sex?" Gwen asked. Cassandra nodded. Helena looked uncomfortable. "Isn't that like, unethical."

"So is raping and pillaging the town." Kelly pointed out.

"Exactly." Cassandra agreed. "And I'm not saying deny your boyfriends or yourselves, for that matter, just that… if we can explain to them, one on one, that we're scared and that we need to be safer, they're more likely to agree."

"That's true." Kelly added. "If Gwen can get Clark to agree and Erika with Jason, then the other guys will follow suit. We target them one on one and then they'll convince their friends who wouldn't otherwise listen to us."

The other girls started nodding along. Their boyfriends, friends, and brothers were far more likely to listen to them without their friends around to disagree. And if the mass collective of men agreed then the others would follow their lead. It was a good plan.

"I'll talk to Grizz." Nina offered. "He's basically the moral compass of the entire football team. No offense to Luke."

"Luke will agree too." Helena said. Nina and Helena both looked at Gwen, who sighed but nodded in agreement as well. Cassandra smiled and clapped her hands.

"Great. So, we're all agreed? We'll work together to keep the town safe?"

"Agreed." Chorused the girls. Cassandra nodded again, an approval and dismissal of the group. Most of the girls streamed out of the church but Nina stayed back to tell Cassandra and Allie about her census of the warehouse so far. She told them she'd go back and keep working after lunch and then spent the rest of the morning in the dance studio. It was quickly becoming her only outlet for all the stress she was experiencing.

Nina stopped barely an hour later when Kelly texted her about a meeting in the community center. She was surprised to see Gwen and Grizz waiting for her with Kelly. Gwen never really got along with the other two girls. Mostly because Nina thought Gwen was a bitch for cheating on Clark and Kelly barely got along with anyone. Nina was even more surprised to find the community center decorated for a bar mitzvah. Kelly smiled when she saw Nina.

"Great. You're here." She greeted.

"Yeah. Why am I here exactly?" Nina asked.

"Prom committee meeting." Kelly explained.

"I'm not on the prom committee." Nina said.

"Now you are." Kelly said. She turned to Gwen. "Let's start."

"Okay, uh. Bobby Aronson. I taught him how to swim. He was the son of my mom's medical partner." Gwen explained how she knew about the place. Nina was taken aback by the amount of emotion Gwen showed over the missing boy. "Uh, the bar is fully stocked. And there's a cake in the fridge. It's seen better days but it could make a good centerpiece."

"Ah, yes. The traditional blue and silver prom cake." Kelly joked.

"So, Out Of This World? How did they know?" Grizz asked conspiratorially. The girls laughed.

"It's great, Gwen." Nina complimented. "I didn't think we'd be having prom but this could actually be really fun."

"But what are you going to wear?" Grizz teased. Nina rolled her eyes and Kelly and Gwen laughed.

"Did you not buy a dress?" Gwen asked. Nina shook her head no.

"I wasn't planning on going. I thought I'd go next year." She explained.

"You can borrow something of mine." Gwen offered. "I only have one prom dress but I've gone to enough hospital galas that I have some backup dresses."

"Thanks." Nina said, smiling at Gwen. Their relationship had always been awkward. But maybe now, they could become friends.

"Okay. So, Bean offered to be DJ but she needs everyone to send her whatever physical music they have, since we don't have access to the cloud. Nina and I can do snacks?" Kelly asked. Nina nodded. "And we already have decorations. So, all we need now are guests."

"I'll spread the word." Grizz agreed.

"Perfect." Kelly said. She smiled proudly at the three of them. "Uh, meeting adjourned, I guess."

Nina and Grizz left together, heading towards their house in search of lunch. The walk was silent until Nina decided to bring up what Cassandra had said that morning. Grizz agreed easily. Nina knew he would. She'd really won the brother lottery. She couldn't imagine how Gwen's talk with Clark was going. He was close to being Nina's best friend but the boy was dense as a brick wall.

Grizz made both of them lunch while he explained his extensive theories on socialism to Nina. After they finished eating, he left to spread the gospel of sharing to his friends and Nina went back to the warehouses to work on her census.

The next morning, Cassandra called another town meeting. This time, boys and girls were all invited. Judging by the nods the girls were giving Cassandra on the way in, their talks had gone well. Nina was hopeful that after the meeting, the town would have real order for the first time since the buses had dropped them off. Nina sat in the front pew and waited for Cassandra to give her speech.

"We need to know what we have and what we're at risk of running out of. So, there'll be an accounting of resources. Once we get a handle on that, we'll begin to ration food, eating meals communally in the cafeteria. We'll also share houses, in case water and electricity are in limited supply, which, at this point, we don't know. But it's better to be safe because if we run out, we don't have a solution. No one will be doing any of this alone. We'll have rotating work lists. That way, everyone contributes the same. And this includes the decision-making. It'll be by committee. Finally, we're going to put together a committee on going home. So we can formally investigate how we got here and how we're going to get back. Adopting this new way of living doesn't mean we're giving up. It means we're smart and prepared. That's the plan. I think we should vote. Okay. All in favor, please raise your hands."

Almost everyone raised their hands. And after a stern look from Helena, the football team raised their hands too. Any stragglers fell in line shortly after and soon everyone's hands were raised in agreement. Cassandra let everyone go with a promise that the work and housing assignments would be out later that day.

Nina was assigned to dinner duty after she finished her inventory of the warehouses. She wasn't sure how exactly, but she was sure that Kelly had something to do with it. Kelly had been roping Nina into all sorts of activities after she broke up with Harry. She didn't mind. She had always liked Kelly. And it was kind of cool seeing Will shine in the kitchen since he'd always been so quiet at school. Kelly seemed to notice too, judging by the not so secret glances she kept sparing him.

The only time it got weird was when Harry cornered the two girls in the kitchen before serving time. Kelly was mid sentence, talking again about plans for her prom dress, when she suddenly quieted and gave Nina an annoyed look. Nina turned around and was face to chest with Harry. He kept his stare on Kelly for a moment too long before looking down at Nina.

"I'll, uh, give you two a moment." Nina said uncomfortably.

"No, wait." Harry said. He grabbed Nina's arm so she couldn't walk away. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, about what?" Nina asked. She relaxed slightly when she realized she wasn't going to be caught in a Kelly/Harry stand-off.

"Do you want to go to prom with me?" Harry asked. Nina's eyes widened and she gave Kelly an uncomfortable look.

"Uh… I mean… no? Not really, Harry." She said. Harry looked disappointed and somewhat surprised. Nina started to feel bad about saying no when Kelly spoke up.

"Actually, you should go." She said. Nina gave her an even more confused look. "I know we were going to go together but I'm actually going to go with Will, so…"

"Oh-kay." Nina said, still visibly uncomfortable with the situation. She turned back to Harry and smiled. "Then I would love to go to prom with you, Harry."

"Great." Harry said unenthusiastically. He dropped Nina's arm and stormed out of the kitchen before they were able to make any more plans. Nina turned to Kelly and glared at her, Kelly smiled innocently in response.

"What?" Kelly asked, grinning.

"You're the devil. You know that right?" Nina asked her. The two of them got back to work and Kelly went back to describing her dress in excruciating detail.

Things only got more awkward for Nina when she was cleaning the kitchen after dinner. Kelly had left early, having breakfast duty in the morning and leaving Nina to clean their station. Will went over to help her and the two started talking about prom. Prom was pretty much all anyone talked about anymore. She was about to leave, desperate to go back to Allie's house and sleep for the next 18 hours, when Will stopped her.

"Hey, Nina. Wait! I wanted to ask you something." Will said. Nina shrugged on her jacket and shoved the hairnet in her pocket.

"Well, I was just gonna go back to Allie's. Wanna walk with me?" She asked. Will agreed and Nina waited for him to lock the doors before they started the walk to their shared house.

"What did you want to talk about?" Nina asked. She'd assumed it was about Kelly or borrowing some of Grizz's clothes to wear to the dance.

"Uh." Will faltered. His hand went to the back of his neck, tugging at the ringlets that had been squished by his bandana all day. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to prom with me?"

Nina tripped over her own foot, causing her to nearly fall off the curb before Will caught her and she righted herself.

"Oh… no." She said feebly. Will looked like he regretted asking her and Nina felt awful. "It's just… someone's already asked me. And I sort of thought that you were going with Kelly."

"Right, yeah. No worries." Will said.

The rest of the walk was silent, save for the clicking of their shoes on the sidewalk. Nina wished the ground would open and swallow her up, just so that she never had to be asked to prom again. It wasn't that she was ungrateful or anything, she just knew that she would be asked four or five times more and she would have to say no. And it wasn't like anyone actually wanted to go with her either so she couldn't be flattered by it. In fact, the more she was asked to prom, the worse she felt about herself. When the two of them arrived at Allie's house, Will went upstairs to shower and Nina tried to explain her thoughts to Grizz, Allie, Bean, and Gordie.

"I just wish it were socially acceptable to have like… five prom dates." She said.

"So, wait. Your problem is that you have too many prom dates?" Bean asked, not impressed with Nina's idea of a problem.

"I mean, yeah. That's part of it." Nina said. Bean and Allie shared a look before they both started laughing. "It's not funny."

"Why don't you just pick the guy you want to go with the most, Nina?" Grizz asked.

"Because…" Nina struggled to find the right words. "Because it doesn't even matter who I want to go with. Because none of them actually want to go with me. I'm just the best neutral option."

"What is a neutral option?" Gordie asked, he wasn't sure if she was being stupid or if she was explaining some complex social dynamic he didn't yet understand.

"It's like… Allie, if you had to pick one guy in town to go to prom with that wouldn't cause any problems, who would you pick?" Nina asked. Allie crinkled her eyebrows but answered.

"Sam." She said.

"Sam is going with Becca." Nina pointed out.

"Then… I don't know, I'd go alone. Or with Grizz, maybe?" Allie said. Nina snapped her fingers.

"Exactly! You'd go with Grizz. I'm like, the female version of Grizz in this situation. Cute enough that I'll make the girl you actually want jealous, but not actually hot so she won't be intimidated." Nina ranted. Bean nodded in understanding. Allie and Gordie still looked confused and Grizz looked troubled. Will came back into the kitchen to get a cup of water, his hair dripping onto his clean t-shirt.

"Wait, so who are you going to prom with?" Gordie asked. "Sam?"

"No." Nina said, exasperated. "I'm going with Harry."

"Seriously?" Will asked. Nina was slightly taken aback by the tone of his voice until she remembered Will and Harry's weird feud.

"But you don't want to go with Harry?" Allie asked, possibly even more confused than Gordie. Nina shrugged.

"Harry's fine, I guess. But he only asked me to piss off Kelly." Nina explained.

"Then why did you agree to go? Isn't Kelly your friend?" Bean asked.

"Kelly told me to." Nina said. Bean cocked her head to the side and gave Allie another look. Cassandra wandered into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.

"What did Kelly tell you to do?" Cassandra asked. Nina repeated her rant to Cassandra, to the annoyance of literally everyone else in the kitchen.

"I don't get it." Cassandra said. "Why don't you just go alone? I mean, I'd rather be no one's choice than everyone's second choice."

Nina paused. The words stung but she knew Cassandra hadn't meant for them to. And she wasn't wrong. Nina was always everyone's second choice. Their date to make the girl they really like jealous. Or their stepping stone to a real girlfriend. She tried not to mind. She liked making people happy and hated telling them no, the main reason for pretty much every hand-job she'd ever given. But if she'd stopped saying 'yes' to being their second choice, then she'd have to admit that maybe no one really wanted her around at all. Even Grizz had to get tired of her sometimes, maybe he even wished that she'd get her own friends and stop relying on him for company. Nina cleared her throat, willing herself to stop spiraling before she couldn't get out.

"Well, on that note. I'm going to go take a shower." She announced. Cassandra gave her an almost guilty look and Nina smiled in return. It wasn't her fault Nina was the way she was.

She showered quickly. After Cassandra and Gordie talked about the possibly depleting water supply, Nina had been cutting down her shower time as much as possible. She dressed and threw her hair up in a towel before going to her bedroom, technically the Pressman's guest bedroom. She was surprised to see Grizz sitting on the bed waiting for her with his hands over his eyes.

"You're dressed, right?" He asked. Nina laughed.

"Yeah. You can open your eyes, weirdo." She said. Grizz uncovered his eyes and flopped back on Nina's bed. She sat at the small desk that she had turned into a makeshift vanity and started working out the knots in her hair. "What's up?"

Grizz shrugged and picked at the stray threads on the duvet.

"Need me to read you a bedtime story?" Nina teased. Grizz shrugged again and Nina got worried. They were never the kind of siblings who constantly fought but it wasn't like Grizz to not tease her back. After a few minutes of nerve wracking silence, he finally spoke up.

"If you could go to prom with anyone, who would you go with?" He asked. Nina set her hairbrush on the desk and turned to face him.

"Chidi Anagonye." She decided. Grizz laughed.

"He'd be a terrible date. He'd spend the entire time trying to pick a shirt to wear and end up ghosting you." Grizz said. Nina finished her post-shower routine and sat beside Grizz on the bed.

"Fine. Jason Mendoza." She said. "Also from The Good Place."

"He's an idiot." Grizz pointed out.

"But he's a cute idiot." Nina countered. Grizz laughed again.

"You have the worst taste in men." He said.

"You have the worst taste in men." Nina mocked.

"Maybe I do." Grizz said. Nina quirked an eyebrow but didn't say anything. When she was 10, she'd googled 'how to tell if your brother is gay', accidentally clicked on a porn ad, and crashed her computer. She figured it was God's way of telling her not to be nosy and that Grizz would let her know when he was ready.

Nina sighed. The long day's work was starting to catch up with her and she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

"If you could go to prom with anyone in town, who would you go with?" Grizz asked quietly. Nina thought for a while. She'd never had a real crush on anyone she grew up with. She'd always assumed that she'd find the perfect person when she moved away from West Ham.

"You, probably." She said. Grizz looked over at her, a small smile on his face.

"Loser." He joked. Nina rolled her eyes.

"Who would you go with?" She asked. Grizz shrugged again. Instead of answering, he pulled Nina's blankets down so she could get under the covers and get ready for bed. When she was comfortable, he pulled the blankets up to her chin and stood.

"I think I'd go with you too." He decided finally. Nina nodded.

"Loser." She said. Grizz rolled his eyes. "Are you going back to Luke's?"

"Yeah. I'll see you in the morning." Grizz said.

"Will you turn off the light when you go?" She asked. Grizz walked towards the door, pausing in the door frame to say good night, before walking down the hall. He left the lights on.

* * *

Nina had a rare day off. Aside from the texts she got every five minutes from Kelly about something else she needed to do before the dance, at least. She spent the morning in the dance studio. She stopped by the cafeteria for lunch and then by her house for prom supplies before going back to Cassandra's. She took a bubble bath, using her last Lush bath bomb and possibly the last bath bomb in the entire world. It left her skin soft and glittery and smelling faintly of oranges. Then, just before nightfall, she gathered her things and met Gwen at her house. The other girls arrived while Gwen and Nina were still finding the right dress. Nina finally decided on a sparkly dress that reminded her a little of the Sugar Plum Fairy. It was a little long, but she fixed it with a pair of high heels.

"You look really nice." Gwen complimented. She stood behind Nina, looking in her full length mirror. "Even if it's a little loose in the chest."

"Thanks for letting me borrow it, Gwen." Nina said, trying to ignore the dig. Gwen smiled. Helena beckoned Nina over to Gwen's vanity so she could put the finishing touches on Nina's hair and makeup. The girls around them gossiped and talked excitedly about the dance. Nina was applying her last coat of lip gloss when Gwen started talking about Clark.

"I was never gonna go to prom with Clark, you know." Gwen said. Nina faltered slightly. She knew Gwen and Clark didn't have the best relationship but Clark was her friend and she hated the way Gwen spoke about him when he wasn't around. "Seth was gonna take me. The guy I met who's going to Wesleyan."

"Who's Seth?" Nina asked, trying not to sound accusatory.

"The guy she hooked up with at college weekend." Olivia said, her eyes alight with gossip. Nina nodded, not looking towards Gwen and instead focusing on putting her makeup in her clutch.

"Clark doesn't know?" Helena asked.

"Don't move!" Gwen scolded her. Helena apologized. "You really think that you and Luke would have stayed together after you went away to college?"

"Yeah." Helena answered, a sure smile on her face.

"Really? You were going to Stanford. There would be so many people. Hot, surfer people. You wouldn't be curious?" Gwen asked. Helena shrugged.

"Maybe. So what?" She asked.

"Luke wasn't just… the best you could do for now?" Gwen asked. Nina winced. She wasn't even Clark and that had hurt. She packed the last of her makeup and stood up.

"I've gotta go. Kelly has some last minute preparations." She said. The other girls smiled and said goodbye and Nina left the house quickly.

As Nina walked to Harry's house, she wondered why she was so defensive of Clark. It wasn't like he was the best person. And he wasn't very bright. But maybe that's why she was protective of him. He was kind of like a silly puppy. But a little mean sometimes… like a chihuahua… but like a really big chihuahua.

Erika caught up with Nina in the Bingham's driveway. She was Jason's date, and long term girlfriend, and a better person than Gwen. The two walked towards the backyard, exchanging compliments until they caught sight of the pool and the boys hanging around it.

"Hi baby!" Jason greeted. It was clear that he was drunk, but honestly that wasn't unexpected.

"Hi." Erika said. They kissed in hello. "What are you guys talking about?"

"You know. Just the usual." Jason said.

Harry caught Nina's eye and she looked him up and down. He wasn't dressed for prom. He was barely dressed for the outside world at all. She tried not to be offended.

"Hey, Nina." He said, taking a swig from his beer.

"Hi, Harry. You look great." She joked. He laughed bitterly and offered her a beer which she accepted.

"Yeah. Sorry. I should probably shower." He said. Nina looked around at the guys hanging out around the pool. She didn't really know any of them aside from Jason and she didn't really want to be left alone with them.

"Okay…" She said awkwardly. "Uh, how about I just meet you there, then? I probably shouldn't be late to a dance I'm technically throwing."

"Sorry. Yeah. I'll just meet you there." Harry agreed. He did look sorry but Nina wasn't sure if she believed him. "I'll be quick."

She nodded and Harry walked up to the house. She chugged the rest of her beer, Jason letting out a loud whoop in her honor. She uncapped a second one to take with her.

"Do you want a ride?" Erika asked, a slightly pitying look in her eyes. Jason nodded along with his girlfriend.

"Yeah. Sure. Thanks." Nina said. "I can dance en pointe but I think an evening in high heels is going to kill me."

The three of them left Harry's backyard and drove to the community center in Jason's car. Nina thanked them again for the ride, finished her second beer, and went inside. It was loud already. The party had barely started but Bean was thoroughly enjoying her role as DJ and had cranked the sound up as loud as it would go. Grizz beckoned her over to the snack table.

"Hey!" He shouted so she could hear him over the music. "Where's your date?"

"I think he's blowing me off." Nina said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. Grizz looked annoyed but he replaced it with a casual grin.

"Well, our duty as prom committee is done. Let's get drunk and dance!" He said. Nina grinned at her brother and accepted his outstretched hand. He dragged her onto the dance floor and started jumping around. The early arrivals were coerced by Grizz's dancing and soon the dance floor was filled with teens.

Harry showed up a little while after. Nina had already danced and sweated off about half her glitter and nearly beat Grizz in a beer chugging contest. The latter had made her forget that she was even mad at Harry. He didn't want to dance, so in a strike of responsibility Nina made herself a plate of food and sat down with him at a table. Harry gave her a small smile but it dropped as soon as he looked away.

"Hey, I'm sorry for not being ready earlier. That was shitty." He said quietly. Nina had to strain to hear him over the music.

"It's fine." She told him with a shrug. Harry shook his head.

"No. It wasn't fine. It was shitty." He said, "I just… had a really fucked up day."

"Okay… it was shitty." Nina agreed. "But I forgive you anyway."

She offered him a carrot and he took it, playing with it instead of actually eating it. She tried to stay chipper but Harry's sullen mood was starting to drag her down.

"Do you want to dance?" She asked. He shook his head no. "Do you want a drink?"

"Yeah. I'll go get some. You stay here." He said. He left her alone at the table before she could protest and she sulked in her seat. Harry came back with punch for them both and a few minutes later, Campbell sat down too. Nina downed her drink and looked at Harry.

"I'm gonna dance." She said. She half expected him to dance with her, you know, like a real prom date, but she knew he wouldn't.

"Okay." He said, his eyes focused on Campbell. Nina rolled her eyes and stood, wandering away from the table until she found Gwen, Olivia, Erika, and weirdly Elle. She joined their small circle, dancing around with the girls and ignoring the shitty prom date sitting at the table. Elle smiled at her and Nina offered her her hand. Elle took it and the two girls danced together wildly, a stark contrast from their years as ballerinas.

They danced until Nina got thirsty and she wandered over to the bar. Harry was standing there, a little bit happier than he was before. Nina took the open bottle of wine and sipped from it. Harry leaned towards her.

"I like your dress." He said. Nina took another long pull from the wine bottle.

"It's Gwen's. It's too big in the boobs." She said glumly. Harry looked at her chest and cocked his head to the side. He shrugged.

"I think it's fine." He said. Nina tried to be annoyed but she couldn't. She laughed and Harry grinned at her.

"You're in a better mood." She noted. Harry nodded.

"I found a way to numb the pain." He joked. Nina assumed he meant the liquor and smiled at him. Eventually, Harry left the bar and dragged Nina to the dance floor. People had slowly started leaving and Bean had switched to almost exclusively slow songs.

"What are you doing?" Nina asked suspiciously, her words slurring together a little.

"Dancing." Harry said simply, the goody smile not leaving his face.

"I don't want to dance." Nina said.

"You want to dance. Come on. You're a dancer. You want to dance." Harry said. He pulled her closer, his hand wrapping around her waist and the other resting on her shoulder. Nina rolled her eyes at him but hooked her arms over his shoulders.

"Fine." Nina said. "I'm glad it's a slow song."

"Why? It's more romantic?" Harry asked. Nina giggled and shook her head no.

"My feet are killing me." She said. Harry laughed. He pulled her a little closer and Nina rested her head on his chest. "I'm not trying to flirt with you, I'm just tired."

"You really know how to make a guy feel special, Visser." Harry joked. Nina was seconds away from telling Harry he'd hurt her feeling earlier when the music cut off and Kelly took the microphone. Everyone stopped dancing so she could make her speech.

"Hi! Can everyone hear me?" She asked into the microphone. The microphone screeched with feedback and Kelly giggled. It was clear that she was drunk, but so was pretty much everyone else. "I guess so! Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for coming. This hasn't exactly been… a normal week. But I think we should be proud of what we've pulled off. What Cassandra has pulled off. To the prom committee, Gwen, Nina, and Grizz, for organizing. To Bobby Aronson for letting us ruin your bar mitzvah! I mean, that's what we all thought prom would be, right? A bar mitzvah. Prom was supposed to be how we say goodbye. I mean, that's what it would have been. It's funny because we are saying goodbye. Just not to each other. Saying goodbye to everything else. To our old lives. Our childhood. And it's not just disappearing slowly… receding into some...distance, where we can still see it. It's just… gone."

Kelley petered off. The crowd had grown silent and Nina was feeling the panicky tightness in her chest that she'd always tried to ignore. The only sound was Gwen's heels as she stepped up on the small stage to take the microphone from Kelly.

"Um, we're gonna keep playing music. No one needs to leave just yet." Gwen said. Bean cranked the music back up but the jubilant mood had left. Nina turned to Harry.

"Hey… I, uh, wanna go home." She said. Harry nodded, his eyes finally leaving the stage to meet hers.

"Okay." He fished his keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. "I'll take you. Meet me at the car in a minute."

Nina nodded. She left to find Grizz and tell him she was leaving. On the way out, she grabbed a half full bottle of rum and brought it with her. Harry met her soon at the car and they both got in, Nina too drunk to point out that Harry should not be driving.

"Where are you staying?" He asked, pulling slowly out of the parking lot.

"Allie's house." Nina answered. She took another sip of rum and nearly spit it out when Harry slammed on the brakes. "What the fuck?"

"Sorry. Do you want to go swimming?" He asked. Nina thought for a minute before nodding.

"Yes. Very much." She said. Harry grinned and turned in the opposite direction of Allie's house. He drove them back to his house and dragged Nina into the backyard. The pool was abandoned. Everyone who hadn't gone to prom was already asleep and everyone who had was hooking up with someone inside. Nina set her heels and liquor bottle on the edge.

"Unzip me." She said. Harry obeyed and she set Gwen's dress on a lounge chair to keep it safe. She jumped in the pool in her bra and underwear, shaking the water from her eyes and reaching for the bottle again. Harry stripped down to his boxers and joined her, taking the bottle from her and drinking it himself. "There are too many golf balls in here."

"There are too many fucking people here." Harry complained. Nina nodded along. "I can never get a second to myself anymore."

"I don't really like being alone." Nina admitted. "Alone with just myself… and my thoughts."

"I love being alone. I hate people." Harry said. Nina laughed.

"Do you hate me?" She asked. Harry shook his head no, splashing Nina with water in the process. Nina splashed him back and Harry instigated a mini water fight until the two of them were too tired and drunk to keep themselves afloat. Harry hoisted himself up on the edge of the pool and pulled Nina up beside him. The concrete was still warm from the sun but the air was cold. Nina shivered and scooted closer to Harry.

"I'm sorry I was such a dick today." He said quietly. Nina glanced up at him but he kept his eyes firmly on the night sky. "Kelly came over this afternoon… She found lipstick in her dad's coat pocket. My mom's lipstick."

Nina didn't know what to say. She knew Harry's dad had died just a few months ago and he wasn't dealing with it very well. She felt for his hand and intertwined her fingers in his.

"My dad's barely even cold in his grave and she's fucking someone else. And not just anyone. My girlfriend's dad. I mean, what the fuck?" Harry ranted.

"I'm sorry." Nina said softly. She didn't know what else to say. Harry sighed loudly. He squeezed her hand once before letting it go and standing up. He offered her his hand again and when she took it he pulled her up.

"It's fine." He said. Nina shivered. She wasn't sure if she should give him a hug or not, given that they were both in their underwear, but he was upset and she wanted to make him feel better. "Let's go inside. You can borrow some clothes."

"Okay. Can I take a shower too?" She asked. Her normal filter for social situations was completely obliterated by all the alcohol she'd had that night. "I need to wash the chlorine out of my hair."

"Yeah." Harry laughed. He led her up the stone path to his backdoor. "You have makeup all over your face too."

Nina took a quick shower and changed into the clothes Harry left for her. When she went back into his room he was curled up under the blankets. Tears stained his cheeks that he was too tired or too drunk to wipe away and Nina's heart panged for him. Despite her own tiredness, she sat beside him on the bed and brushed his hair out of his eyes. Harry blinked tiredly but otherwise didn't react. He was taking any affection Nina would spare for him. She stayed with him until he fell asleep and then slipped out of the house, her dress and heels in her hand and some random girls slippers on her feet. She'd return them eventually. Probably.


	4. Chapter 4

Nina walked back to Allie's house, fully expecting everyone to be sound asleep by the time she got there. Instead, Will was sitting in the kitchen, sipping on a glass of juice. He looked up when Nina walked in and she joined him at the island. He poured her a glass of juice and slid it over to her like a bartender. She draped Gwen's dress over the extra chair and set her heels beside it.

"How was your night?" Will asked, eyeing her wet hair and obviously borrowed clothes.

"Honestly? It kind of sucked." Nina admitted. Will laughed, not in a mocking way, and Nina laughed too. "How was your night?"  
"Honestly, it kind of sucked." Will said. Nina rested her elbows on the island and propped her chin up with her hands.

"How was Kelly?" She asked. "Aside from being very, very drunk."

"Uh, she was okay. You guys are friends, right? Like, genuinely?" He asked. Nina nodded and Will continued. "She sort of had a bad day. I don't know if I should tell you but… she found out that her dad was cheating."

"I know." Nina admitted quietly. Will looked surprised. "It was with Harry's mom. He found out today too."

Will sighed deeply and shook his head, taking a large sip of his juice.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but rich people are so weird." Will said. Nina laughed.

"How could I possibly take that the wrong way?" Nina asked sarcastically. Will started laughing and Nina, having previously thought she'd sobered up, erupted into a fit of giggles. Will glanced at the staircase and shushed her and Nina tried to quell her laughter.

"We shouldn't be laughing." Nina said, trying to stop herself. "That's really awful. It's really sad."

"It is sad." Will agreed, the grin never leaving his face. He started giggling again and Nina tried unsuccessfully to refrain. "Seriously, I feel bad for them."

"Cassandra?" Allie called from the stairs. Nina and Will both looked up in surprise and Allie joined them in the kitchen.

"She's not back yet?" Nina asked. Allie shook her head no, a strange look on her face. "Where's Gordie?"

"Upstairs." Allie said. She pulled out her phone, trying to call Cassandra but her older sister didn't answer.

"She's not answering?" Will asked. Allie shook her head no.

"Do you want to go look for her?" Nina asked. Allie started chewing on her thumb nail nervously, glancing from her phone to the front door. Will took that as an answer.

"I'll go grab my shoes." He said. Nina stood up as well, checking her phone for any messages from Cassandra and coming up empty.

"She's probably still cleaning. And she just left her phone on vibrate." Nina said. Allie nodded but she clearly didn't buy Nina's excuse. Will came back quickly and the three of them left Allie's house and started walking towards the community center. The walk was short but the closer they got, the more anxious the group got. They all had the feeling that something really bad had happened. They decided to split up when they go to the center.

"You guys check inside. I'm gonna call Grizz." Nina said. Will nodded and dragged a nervous Allie inside. Nina called her brother but the phone just rang and rang without an answer. She huffed and was about to shove her phone in her pocket when she heard a noise behind the building. She used the flashlight on her phone as she crept around the corner, nearly screaming when a dog dashed past her. She was about to turn around and meet Allie and Will inside when she saw a lump on the ground on the other side of the building. She walked closer and dropped her phone in shock. She scrambled for the phone and aimed the flashlight at the lump.

"Cass?" Nina called nervously. She walked closer, her flashlight starting to reflect off the wetness pooling around Cassandra's body. She dropped her phone again and fumbled for it, letting out a childish whining sound. She called out again, uselessly. "Cassandra?"

The back door of the building creaked open but Nina couldn't turn to face them.

"Don't, Allie! Stay inside." Nina said. They didn't listen. Allie ran over, Will close behind her. The two of them stopped just feet away from Cassandra's body. Allie whimpered.

"Call Gordie." She whispered. "Will, call Gordie. He can fix her."

Will took out his phone to call Gordie, one of his arms wrapped tightly around Allie to keep her from falling. Nina used her phone too, the fresh crack in the screen slicing open her thumb as she desperately called her older brother again. He answered this time.

"Nina? What's wrong?" He asked. His voice was thick with sleep and worry.

"Grizz." Nina was having trouble speaking. Her voice cracked and she knew she sounded pitiful.

"Where are you? I'll come get you." Grizz said. She could hear the ruffling of his blankets and Grizz fumbling around for his shoes on the other end of the line.

"We're at the prom." Nina said, her voice high pitched and nasally. "Something happened. I don't- I don't think she's breathing."

Allie made a harsh whining sound and Will had to use both arms to make sure she didn't fall to the ground.

"I'll be there in a minute, Nina. Okay? Are you safe?" Grizz asked worriedly.

"Yeah." Nina said.

"Okay. I'll be there in a minute. Okay? Just a few seconds." Grizz hung up and Nina let her phone clatter to the ground again. She walked towards Allie, helping Will lower her to the ground and pulling her into Nina's arms. Allie gripped Nina's arms, digging her nails into the fleshy bit of her biceps. Tears fell from her eyes but she didn't make any noise. She just stared at her sister while Nina rocked her gently back and forth. Will rubbed her back in a futile attempt to ease her pain.

"It's okay, Allie. It'll be okay." Will said softly. Allie sobbed. A throaty wail that Nina knew must have scraped at the back of her throat. Will swore and Nina pulled Allie tighter into her arms, trying to hide her face so she would stop staring at her sister's lifeless body. Seconds later, a car pulled up, it's headlights flashing over Cassandra and reflecting off her sequined dress. Two car doors slammed and Luke and Grizz came into Nina's view. Gordie came running over soon after, his footsteps echoing into the dark night. Will explained what happened, at least the part that he knew.

Gordie knelt next to Cassandra, feeling for a pulse. Tears were already falling down his cheeks and he wiped them away, smearing a bit of her blood across his face in the process. He met Will's eyes and shook his head no, telling them all what they already knew. Cassandra was dead.

"Come on, Allie. Let's go home." Nina said. Allie clung harder to Nina and didn't try to stand.

"No. No we can't leave her." She sobbed. Grizz knelt beside the girls and wrapped his arms around them, trying to comfort Allie and his sister at the same time.

"What do we do?" Luke asked. Gordie looked lost. No one knew the answer. Allie sniffed harshly and pulled away from Nina slightly.

"What happened?" She asked. "How- how did she- how did she-?"

She couldn't finish the question. Nina pulled her back into her arms and Allie sagged into them. She watched over the top of Allie's head as Gordie tentatively touched Cassandra's body. He cringed, then rolled her onto her back. The front of her dress was caked in blood. Gordie couldn't handle it. He stumbled away and puked into a bush. Luke had to press his fist into his mouth to prevent himself from doing the same. Nina squeezed her eyes shut and leaned into Grizz, pulling Allie with her. Gordie took a few deep breaths before turning back to Cassandra and kneeling beside her body again.

"They're bullet wounds." He said. His hand hovered over Cassandra's stomach where the most blood had pooled. His voice was far away, like he was in shock. "Someone shot her."

Allie sobbed again and Grizz couldn't take it anymore. He let go of his sister, just to scoop Allie into his arms. Allie wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his hair.

"Someone needs to take her home." Grizz said, indicating to Allie with a tilt of his head. "And then someone else will take her… uh."

"To the morgue." Gordie finished. He sniffed, his face set with a determined look. "We can find out who did it, maybe. What gun they used."

Grizz nodded and Nina stood up.

"I'll go with Allie." She said. Grizz nodded. Luke nodded reluctantly as well.

"We'll take her. Me and Gordie." He said.

"Me too." Will told him. Grizz nodded again and caught Nina's eye. He adjusted Allie in his arms and the three of them set off to Allie's house. Grizz carried Allie all the way home, leaving Luke with the car to take care of Cassandra's body. When they got to Allie's house, Grizz carried her to her bedroom. He set her in bed and Nina didn't hesitate to crawl in beside her. She pulled the covers over Allie and pet her hair, the same way she had comforted Harry just hours ago. Grizz sat at the foot of the bed protectively, his hand resting on Allie's shins. It didn't take her long to fall asleep. The grief, in combination with the alcohol and dancing she had done all night, was exhausting.

Nina, herself, was half asleep by the time Allie had drifted off. Grizz still sat at the end of the bed, unmoving until he looked over at his sister.

"Do you want me to stay the night?" He asked. Nina nodded. She sank into the bed and wrapped a protective arm around Allie's middle. Grizz slipped off his shoes and curled up at the foot of the bed like a watchdog. Nina made sure he had a pillow and blanket before letting herself fall asleep.

* * *

The next few days passed in a blur. Gordie spent every waking hour at the morgue, trying to find out who killed Cassandra. Allie spent the first few days in bed and Nina spent all her time trying to make sure Allie was okay and ultimately just annoying the hell out of her. A grave was dug and a memorial was thrown together quickly. Everyone in town gathered at the church. One of the girls from orchestra played a song on her cello and Helena agreed to give a sermon. Everything was going smoothly until Harry and Campbell showed up. Will stormed over to the two of them, attempting to ban them from the service.

"Hey, get the fuck out!" He finally snapped. Nina finally left Allie's side, rushing over to them along with Gordie. Grizz and his friends all stood, ready to drag Harry and Campbell out by force if they had to. Nina tried to slip in between Will and Harry to prevent any further fighting while Gordie tried to talk them down.

"Hey, isn't this bad enough?" Gordie asked.

"Allie doesn't need to see them." Will said.

"Allie doesn't give a shit about this right now. You're making it worse. Just let them in." Gordie reasoned. Will swallowed roughly.

"In the back." He agreed. Harry complied, bringing Campbell with him to the back row. Nina nearly followed them but Will grasped her hand and dragged her to the front of the church. They sat down and Allie walked to the front of the church. She hadn't even begun her speech when tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"My sister, Cassandra, was good. She was a good person. Um… She was captain of the debate team. You didn't want to argue with her." Allie took a long pause before her voice shifted from sadness to anger.

"Who did this?" She demanded. "Hm? Who shot my sister? Why did you do that? We needed her! I needed her!"

Will joined Allie at the podium, trying to comfort her before she broke down in front of the entire town. Nina couldn't stop the small sob from escaping her lips. The sight of Allie breaking down over her older sister hit close to home and Nina couldn't even imagine the pain of losing Grizz. The boys went up to the front of the church, each grabbing a corner of the sheet they'd used to cover Cassandra's body. Gordie led them out, Helena following close behind to pray over her. The rest of the church followed them outside to the makeshift graveyard, already too full. They lowered her body into the ground and Helena prayed. Allie took a handful of dirt, letting it slip through her fingers and scatter over her sister.

Everyone left, aside from the Guard, Allie, Will, and Nina. Even Gordie had left, choosing to go back to the back of the community center and look for answers. Eventually, Will convinced Allie to go home and rest. Nina stayed, watching her brother and friends refill the grave.

"Are you alright, Nina?" Grizz finally asked, after they'd completely filled the grave and Nina still hadn't moved. She nodded absentmindedly, only looking away when Clark pulled her into a side hug.

"Want to come back to our place for a, uh… what's it called?" Clark asked.

"A wake." Luke answered. Nina shook her head no.

"I can't. I have lunch duty." She said.

"I think Will would understand if you missed a day." Grizz told her. Nina shook her head no.

"I just need to like… do something… normal. You know? Go back to work." She explained. Grizz nodded. Clark shrugged. "I'll come by after, maybe."

"Want a ride?" Grizz asked. Nina shook her head no again. "Okay. Just text me."

She nodded. Grizz pushed his lips to the side awkwardly but didn't say anything. Nina started walking towards the cafeteria when Clark grabbed her shoulder to make her stop.

"Listen," He said seriously. "The best way to recover from a loss… is to get really drunk with your friends. Okay?"

Nina scoffed a laugh but Clark took it as a good sign and let her out of his grasp.

"Got it. Thanks for the wisdom." She said sarcastically. "I'll see you after lunch."

The guys mumbled various goodbyes and Nina walked slowly to her lunch shift. She was surprised to see Will and basically no one else there.

"Where is everybody?" She asked, tying on her apron and washing her hands.

"Gwen and Olivia are at Lexie's. Apparently she won't leave her house." Maya said, checking her phone for any updates from the girls. Nina nodded and accepted the half chopped vegetables that were slid her way. Will joined the two of them, sliding the chopped ones into a pot.

"Where's Allie?" Nina asked.

"Uh, she's with Gordie." Will told her. Nina paused, her knife only halfway through a tomato.

"Is that a good idea?" She asked.

"How the fuck should I know, Nina?" Will snapped. Nina and Maya looked taken aback and Will took a calming breath. "Sorry. I just- I don't- I don't fucking know anything."

"It's fine." Nina said, going back to her chopping.

"I'm sorry." Will said.

"It's fine." Nina repeated, not meeting his eyes.

"Hey, I'm sorry." He said again, trying to convey how badly he felt about snapping at her.

"I said it's fucking fine." Nina said harshly. She set her knife on the table a little too harshly and it banged against the metal table. Maya stared at the two of them with wide eyes. "Clark's right, I need a fucking drink."

Nina walked away, trying not to be angry with herself or with Will. She went to the freezer where she knew the cleaning crew kept liquor and took out a bottle of vodka. She uncapped it and slid her back against the wall until she was sitting on the floor. Will joined her. She took a long pull of the vodka and shivered at the bitter taste. Will took the bottle and took a sip too before passing it back.

"Sorry." She said. Will didn't reply, he just took the bottle and had another sip. "I'm not angry at you. I shouldn't be taking it out on you. I just…"

"Don't know what the fuck to do?" Will supplied. Nina nodded. She took another sip from the bottle and gagged.

"Fuck. How do people drink straight liquor? This is disgusting." She said. Will laughed a little. He went back to the fridge and got some juice then rejoined Nina on the floor. She poured the vodka into the juice and took a sip.

"Better?" Will asked. Nina nodded.

"We get it. You're a masterchef." She joked, the humor never really reaching her voice. Will smiled but it faded after a few seconds.

"I don't know what to do." He admitted. "I want to be there for Allie but I just can't. I can't fix it."

Nina took a large sip of the spiked juice, the liquor already going to her head. Will took the rest of it.

"I don't know what to do either." Nina said softly. "I'm much more of a 'suffer in silence alone in the shower and then pretend everything is okay' kind of person."

"I like to smash things. Not important things… but like, beer bottles or soda bottles, you know?" Will said. "Allie is a crier. And then she gets angry. And then she does something irrational. At least, that's what she did last year when her cat died… sisters are… more important than cats. I guess." He ended awkwardly.

Nina nodded glumly. She groaned and smacked her head into the freezer door, a little bit harder than intended.

"Can't we just make a giant thing of spaghetti and then tell anyone who complains about lunch to get fucked?" She asked. Will laughed, tears still glistening in his eyes.

"I already got the ingredients to make tacos." Will told her. Nina groaned again.

"Tacos again?" She asked.

"Nina," Will looked at her very seriously and she stared back at him with wide eyes. "Get fucked."

Nina snorted and Will laughed at her. He stood up and pulled her along with him and back towards the kitchen.

"We have work to do." He said, and then a little more seriously, "we can't let the town fall apart now."

Nina pouted but didn't disagree. She decided she was too tipsy to keep chopping vegetables, though. Maya agreed to switch with her and the small kitchen staff just barely were able to pull off lunch in time.

* * *

Nina didn't stay to eat lunch. Her mind was bogged down with problem after problem. They were starting to weigh her down. Even petty issues that shouldn't matter anymore. She needed to see her brother and get him to make everything okay again. Really, she needed her mom, but she knew that wasn't going to happen again. Maybe ever.

She headed to Luke's house. She figured that if she couldn't have her mom, she could at least have a little more vodka. And maybe destroying Clark in Mario Kart would help her work through her issues too. The boys welcomed her with snacks and drinks and for the first time in weeks, Nina almost felt normal. She nearly forgot about their situation and half expected Luke's mom to come in with a plate full of fresh baked cookies. It made her twice as surprised when Will called Luke and asked them to come to a meeting at Allie's. They all gathered around the island, Nina munching away on a bag of chips whilst waiting for Will to explain himself.

"We need to be extremely careful right now." Will began. "What we say, what we do. Less than half the kitchen showed today. They didn't even bother to call."

"It's not just the kitchen staff. Nobody's picked up garbage all weekend." Grizz said.

"It fucking reeks." Jason added. He took the bag of chips from Nina's hands and finished it, ignoring the glare she sent him afterwards.

"If we don't follow the schedule, we're screwed." Will said simply.

"And if the communal kitchen collapses, people will go after the food." Grizz said. Nina nudged her brother in an attempt to comfort him.

"They're already raiding the cafeteria pantry. Broad daylight. Nobody gives a shit." Will said.

"What do you want us to do about it?" Luke asked. Will sighed, trying to come up with a solution in his head.

"We might have to enforce work lists." He said.

"You mean _we_ would have to enforce the work lists. The guard." Luke clarified. Nina was glad, possibly for the first time in her life, that she was considered small and unintimidating.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Clark asked. "There are four of us."

"Someone has a gun." Jason pointed out, worry tinging his voice. Nina nudged him in an effort to comfort him too. Jason wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. A door upstairs opened and everyone fell silent. Allie walked into the kitchen. The silence made it obvious to Allie that they were discussing her and her sister.

"What?" She asked. None of them made eye contact. Jason seemed particularly interested in Nina's split ends.

"We were… We were talking about how nobody came to work today." Will answered awkwardly.

"It's getting really bad out there." Grizz added.

"Yeah. No shit. Something terrible might happen." Allie said sarcastically.

"We were just saying how um, the work lists are falling apart." Jason said.

"It's bad enough without her. We can't let the rules go too." Luke said. Allie nodded.

"Well, I just wanted some fucking tea." She said. She stormed out of the kitchen and back upstairs. No one knew how to react and the room was uncomfortable. Nina hopped down from her chair and turned on the teapot. Grizz took a teacup down from the cabinet and took over the tea making with a soft 'I got it'.

"Hey, Nina." Grizz said, softly enough that none of the other guys were listening.

"Yeah?" She asked. Grizz sighed, placing a teabag in the cup and trying to find the right words.

"I don't think you should go out on your own anymore." He said quietly. Nina chewed her lip.

"I mean… you can't watch me 24/7, Grizz." Nina said. Grizz nodded, still focusing on the tea making.

"I know that." He said. "But someone can."

"If it makes you feel better… I will get a babysitter." Nina said with a sigh. Grizz gave her a tight lipped smile.

* * *

Nina had no intention of forcing someone to follow her around like a guard dog. She knew it was just to give Grizz peace of mind but after walking to dinner alone, she was starting to change her mind. Everyone had weapons. Baseball bats, guns, and any weapon kids could find were strapped to their backs. It was like they were living in a militia. Nina set her dinner tray on the table next to Kelly, Helena, Will, Gordie, and Gwen.

"This is fucking insane." Nina said. Gordie nodded in agreement.

"People are scared." Gwen defended.

"And turning the town into a war zone is gonna make things better?" Gordie asked bitterly. Gwen shrugged and picked at her food.

"I don't know. I get why people are doing it but it still freaks me out." Kelly said. Gwen and Nina nodded. Helena shrugged.

"I think everyone should be able to defend themselves." Helena said. Gordie gave her a dark look but she didn't notice. The six of them were startled by two guys shouting at each other by the drink counter. One of the boys shoved the other to the ground. His gun fell from his hand and went off. Everyone in the cafeteria ducked under the tables.

Jessica stood, fumbling for her gun and aiming it at the two boys. Another boy stood on his table and pulled out his gun, aiming it at Jessica. It would have been almost funny if they weren't all three seconds away from being murdered.

"Drop it! Drop the gun! I'm serious." He shouted.

"Just put your gun down!" Jessica shouted back, now aiming her gun at him. Gwen reached for Nina and Nina let her cling to her arm. Will slid forward on his stomach, ignoring Kelly's warning. He stood up, his hands held up to show that he was weaponless.

"Hey, Russo. Hey, be cool, man. Calm down, okay?" Will said.

"Get the fuck away from me!" The boy shouted. Nina tried to pull Will back towards the table but she couldn't reach him without letting go of Gwen. Someone pulled the fire alarm and people started screaming. Everyone ran out of the cafeteria. Nina, Becca, Sam, Will, Luke, and Grizz all went straight to Allie's house. Gordie joined them soon after, the remnants of panic on his face. He went straight upstairs to Allie's room.

The rest of them sat silently around the dining room table. Nina rubbed at the half-moon shaped bruises that Gwen had left on her skin. Will reached over and gently took hold of her arm, looking at the bruises. Grizz eyed them from across the table.

"Is Gwen okay?" He asked. Nina shrugged.

"She texted me. She's at Clark's house." Nina said.

Gordie came down the stairs. Will let go of Nina's arm and she hid it under the table so she didn't have to look at it anymore. No one said anything until Allie joined them a few minutes later. She stood at the base of the stairs and glared at them all with her arms crossed.

"So, you all had a fucking powwow, huh?" She asked bitterly. "You went through every other option and came up with me."

"Allie-" Will started. Allie cut him off.

"Shut the fuck up, WIll. I'm talking. All of you think that this is… the only way. And you're sure? You've decided?" Allie asked. They all nodded. "If you're gonna put this on my shoulders, then you had better be there for me. Every minute, every second of every day, by my side."

"We will." Gordie said.

"Of course." Will agreed.

"No. No. Really think about it. Don't nod your heads like idiots. Don't give me an easy yes." She said.

"Yeah, Allie. We'll protect you." Luke said.

"And if I have to make a decision, and I don't know the answer, which by the way, I won't-" She said.

"We'll all be with you. Every decision, every second, like you said." Will assured her.

"Sure." Allie agreed. She didn't believe them and Nina didn't blame her. Allie turned and started walking back to her room. "Okay. But fuck all of you, and I mean that."

Allie left and the room settled back into an uncomfortable silence. Gordie was the one to eventually break it.

"I guess, I'll call a town meeting." He said. "We'll meet at the church in the morning."

Nina followed Allie and the Guard into the church. They were the last ones there. Allie went to the front to give her speech while the Guard stood in the back and acted as security. Nina didn't know what to do so she hung around Grizz awkwardly.

"Um… in the name of my sister, I'm taking over the responsibility of keeping us safe. Um… of reinstating and enforcing the rules that she established. All the things that made this place work." Allie said. The church was silent. "Is there anyone who objects?"

No one objected. Not even Campbell or Harry. Allie nodded.

"Okay. Uh, new work lists will be posted this afternoon. Starting immediately, I will be confiscating all guns. Every last one. We're going to find out who killed her." Allie said simply. She walked out of the church and the Guard followed.

Nina stayed behind, even after everyone else had left. She hadn't prayed in weeks and she didn't think that doing so now would do her any good. She just wanted some peace and quiet. She stayed in the church for a few hours, trying in vain to call her mom and listening to her voicemail until she had it memorized. Until eventually, she couldn't take it anymore and she walked back to Allie's house.

"Hold it!" Luke called out. Nina paused. She walked closer and when Luke saw it was her his shoulders drooped, then he tensed up again. "I, uh, still have to frisk you."

"I live here." Nina said, annoyed. Luke shrugged. He motioned for her to hold her arms out and she did. After being deemed gun free, he let her inside. She found Will in the living room, writing out meal plans in his notebook.

"I just got frisked by Luke." She told him. Will laughed a little but didn't look up from his notebook.

"Yeah. He does that now." He said. Nina sat on the other end of the couch. After sitting alone in the church for so long she was desperate for a regular conversation.

"I'm just glad it wasn't Clark. He gets handsy." She joked. Will didn't laugh.

"What about Jason?" He asked, still not looking up from his notebook.

"Nah, he's not much of a groper. He gets cuddly when he's drunk though." She joked. "So does Erika. We had a sleepover once and I woke up to her wrapped around me like a spider monkey."

Will kept ignoring her so eventually Nina got bored and stood. He finally glanced at her when she spoke again.

"If Allie needs me, I'll be in the bath." She said. Will nodded. She was halfway up the stairs when he finally talked.

"Hey, Elle is planning a movie night tomorrow. Do you, uh… are you gonna go?" He asked. Nina shrugged.

"Probably not. I have garbage duty this week so most of my free time will probably be spent scrubbing my skin raw." She joked. Will nodded but again he didn't laugh. "You should go, though. Elle has great taste in movies."

Nina was right about garbage duty. Even though they wore gloves, she felt like she was covered in a billion layers of grime afterwards. She stayed up in her room until Gordie came in and told her to go downstairs for a meeting. Nina was immediately scared. She relaxed slightly when she saw that both Allie and Grizz were alive and waiting for the meeting to start. She sat next to Grizz and Sam began to explain why he asked everyone to be there. Becca translated for them.

"There's a reason why we never had a dog growing up." Becca said as Sam signed. "We had a bird one time when I was little. It was yellow and green. His name was Oliver. It vanished from it's cage one day, and I went to see if it had gotten outside somehow… because the window was open. I saw Campbell playing with it. And he cut his wings off. Like, fully off."

Nina reached for Grizz but he was faster. He pulled Nina into his side and she looked up at him just long enough to see the tears in his eyes. Becca and Sam continued.

"He was watching it try to walk away. Try to fly… with it's bloody stumps. It kept losing its balance and falling over. My parents tried to hide the truth from people. Pretending that he was just a difficult kid. Like a normal version of a problem child. Anti-social and moody. But Campbell is not a normal version of anything. They had him tested… he's a psychopath."

Grizz was able to sum up what everyone was thinking.

"Fuck." He said.

"You have to understand," Sam began to speak aloud, "he doesn't think like we do, feel like we do. He has no guilt. No empathy. He can mimic that stuff… but he can't actually feel it."

Nina didn't know what to say. She knew psychopaths weren't inherently evil or dangerous. But there was no doubt in her mind that Campbell would be both.

"You're saying he killed Cassandra?" Will asked.

"I don't know. I just know he's a monster." Sam said. "And we're locked up in a room with him."

Nina looked over at Allie but she was already headed up the stairs to her bedroom.


	5. Chapter 5

Nina swore as she almost slipped down the stairs. She was trying to tie up her hair and get to work duty on time and failing at both. Bean looked over at Nina with a glare, Nina interrupting her morning prayer. Nina mouthed 'sorry' and Bean went back to her prayer. Nina opened the door as quietly as she could and then nearly tripped over Allie and Grizz on the front steps. She ended up hopping over the steps and slipping in the wet grass to avoid crashing into Allie. Allie and Grizz looked amused.

"What are you doing?" Grizz asked. He took a sip of his tea and Nina noted the tears in his and Allie's eyes.

"I'm late for work." She said. She accepted that she would be late and finally took the time to properly put up her hair. "I wouldn't normally consider myself clumsy but today I feel like the Kool-Aid man."

"Oh yeah!" Grizz quoted. Nina snorted at her brother's dorkiness and Allie laughed. She waved goodbye but stopped quickly and turned around.

"Hey, have either of you heard from Elle?" She asked. Allie and Grizz both shook their heads no. Nina tried not to get worried. "I just… I've been trying to get a hold of her and make sure she's okay, after… Uh, but she hasn't texted me back at all."

"I'll try to talk to her." Grizz assured her. At one point in their childhood, Elle had spent almost every weekend at the Visser house. Nina nodded.

She was able to finish her shift and get a good workout in at the studio before she got a frantic call from Gordie, telling her to get home immediately. He hung up before Nina could ask him what the fuck he was talking about. While she sprinted back to Allie's she ran through every horrible scenario that could be happening. She grabbed a stick from Allie's front yard before bursting into the house and startling everyone in the kitchen. Allie gave her an unimpressed look.

"Why do you have a stick?" She asked.

"I thought…" Nina drifted off and let the stick hang loosely at her side. "Gordie scared me!"

"Sorry." Gordie said, not sounding sorry at all. "Sit down."

Nina put her stick on the side table and sat down at the island. Grizz, Luke, Allie, Will, and Becca were all crowding around, waiting for Gordie to explain himself. Gordie pressed his hands against the counter to calm himself before speaking.

"Harry came to see me." He said.

"Bingham?" Becca clarified.

"Yeah. While I was going through the guns upstairs. He said… he said that we need to look for a gun that belongs to Dewey." Gordie said.

"He said what?" Will asked, not believing what he just heard.

"He said we have to look for a gun at Dewey's house." Gordie repeated.

"Dewey like Greg Dew- Hey, are you seriously making a protein shake right now?" Grizz asked Luke, who was indeed making a protein shake. Luke looked chastised and slid the blender away from him.

"No." Luke said. Grizz gave him an unimpressed look and Luke moved over to the island.

"Why didn't Harry just come and tell us himself?" Allie asked.

"Uh, Harry's a fucking pussy." Will said.

"Why Cassandra? Greg didn't even know her. I mean, why would he care?" Allie asked.

"Maybe Harry put him up to it. Maybe Harry made him confess so he could take the heat off himself." Grizz theorized.

"Like some deep mind control." Luke said.

"Yeah. Exactly." Grizz agreed. Nina barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

"Guys, I was with Harry that night. He didn't kill Cassandra." Nina said.

"You weren't with him all night." Will pointed out. "You came back here before we went looking for her. He could have done it then."

Nina couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes that time.

"You really think Harry could get drunk, cry himself to sleep, and then as soon as I left, wake himself up and go after Cassandra? Then sneak back to his house before anyone caught him?" She asked.

"Yeah. I do." Will said.

"Do you believe Harry?" Allie asked Gordie.

"It's gonna sound weird but I do." Gordie said. "When he came up to me he seemed like, upset."

"It doesn't matter. We have to arrest Dewey." Will decided.

"Arrest him?" Allie asked. "What do you mean arrest him? Like go… just go nab him off the street?"  
"Yes. If he confessed-" Will said.

"But what if Harry's lying?" Becca asked, cutting Will off.

"We can't take any chances. Dewey could hurt somebody." Will said. "We have to arrest him and search his house for the gun."

"Could you handle something like that?" Allie asked Luke.

"Yeah… I mean, if we got up like super ass early in the morning." He said.

"Pre-dawn raid." Grizz said.

"Yeah. Like uh, like a pre-dawn raid. You know, like, take him by surprise." Luke said.

"Yeah. I got handcuffs." Grizz added. Everyone turned to look at Grizz with questioning looks.

"Like… fuzzy ones?" Nina asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Actual ones? Or like the ones you get in a Halloween costume at Walgreens?" Luke asked, also a little uncomfortable.

"Nope. Actual handcuffs." Grizz said. Allie cleared her throat loudly.

"Why do you have handcuffs?" Nina asked quietly.

"Look, just. Say thank you. Okay? Yes." Grizz said, trying to get the attention off him.

"Thank you." Allie said. She tried to keep the grin off her face but wasn't doing a very good job. Grizz scraped at a spot on the table, willing everyone to look away.

"Uh, Luke? Can I have a protein shake?" Nina asked. Luke nodded and went back to the blender. Grizz nudged her knee under the table as a thank you but she couldn't entirely let it go.

"Seriously, where did you even get handcuffs?" She asked, only loud enough or Grizz to hear.

"Seriously, don't worry about it." He mumbled.

Luke poured everyone protein shakes and set them on the table. Nina took a sip of hers right as her phone started ringing. Everyone stared at her. She clicked it off and rolled her eyes.

"Who was it?" Will asked suspiciously.

"Jesus Christ, it wasn't Harry." She said. She took another sip. "I'm gonna go shower."

Nina dashed off to the bathroom after downing the rest of her shake. She turned on the water before picking up her phone as it rang again.

"What do you want, Harry?" She asked quietly.

"Well, fuck, Nina." He slurred. Nina sighed and leaned her head against the bathroom wall. "I just… needed to talk to someone. Kelly won't answer her phone."

"I was about to take a shower." Nina said.

"Can you come over after?" He asked. He sounded so pitiful that Nina almost agreed.

"Honestly, Harry? I can't. Gordie told us about Dewey but-" Nina said. Harry cut her off.

"They think it was me?" Harry asked. He sounded heart broken but their assumption wasn't out of the blue. "I didn't- I- You have to believe me."

"I do. And I'm your alibi. But I can't go over there. Okay? I'll text you." She said. Harry made a non-committal noise on the other end. Confirming to Nina that he was drunk again. She hung up the phone and stepped into the shower, washing off the sweat from her work out and her sprint across town.

The next morning they were supposed to arrest Dewey. Nina went with Allie, Gordie, and Will to make sure they got him. They waited outside until the Guard dragged Dewey out in handcuffs. Jason gave Gordie a shoe box with a gun and a case of bullets in it.

"I got it, bro. Do your… science on it." Jason said. Gordie looked through the box, checking the bullets. Clark and Grizz locked Dewey in the car and then joined the small group.

"Okay. So, where to?" Grizz asked Allie.

"Yeah, Allie. Where do you want us to take him?" Luke asked. Allie's eyes widened.

"Can we keep him in a bathroom?" She asked.

"Wait, did you guys seriously not think of where to keep him?" Luke asked.

"No, Luke! I've never held someone prisoner before. Have you?" Allie asked sarcastically.

"We can't keep him in a bathroom. They lock from the inside. So, that's no bueno." Grizz said.

"We could jam a chair under the handle." Nina suggested.

"Maybe there's a room at the school we could use." Will said.

"Hey, what if we just leave him in the car? Roll down the windows a little." Jason asked. Luke rubbed his forehead in annoyance.

"Dude, he's not your mom's maltipoo." Clark said.

"Give me the keys." Luke said. Grizz handed Luke his keys.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked.

"Just meet me at my house, all right? I've got an idea." Luke said.

Luke's idea, as it turns out, was a pretty good one. His dad had a special wine cellar in the basement, complete with a Plexiglas door that locked from the outside. They all met at Luke's house and the Guard locked Dewey in the wine cellar.

"Better not fuck with the Lafite while he's in there." Luke said warningly. "My dad would lose his shit."

"Bro! How come you never told us you had all this wine down here?" Jason asked, in awe at the sight.

"This isn't just wine, Jason. This is a 'collection'." Luke told him. He was clearly quoting his dad, probably bitter about it.

"Someone has to make sure that he gets food and water." Allie said.

"Luke, can you bring someone down here? Keep an eye on him?" Will asked.

"I can do it." Nina offered. She didn't know why she offered, she was just used to doing favors for people.

"No." Everyone said, almost in sync. Except Jason, he just shrugged.

"We can do shifts." Luke told Allie.

"How's he gonna go to the bathroom?" Allie asked.

"We'll give him a bucket or something." Grizz said. Allie didn't look too keen on the idea.

"Look, it's the only option." Will said. "He could hurt someone else and what he did to Cassandra… He's not getting away with it."

"Then why don't I feel any better?" Allie asked. No one could give her an answer. Nina's phone buzzed in her pocket until she shut it off.

"Harry again?" Grizz asked. Nina nodded.

"We should have a town meeting." She told Allie. "Tell everyone what happened before the rumours get out of hand."

Allie agreed and soon they were all at the church, minus Dewey and his prison guard. Allie waited for everyone to arrive before starting her explanation. Nina sat sideways in the pew with Will, waiting and watching to see who showed up. When Elle came in and sat with Helena, Nina sent her a text. Elle checked her phone and then shoved it back in her pocket. Nina didn't get a text back.

"Well, at least I know that she's alive and just ignoring me." She muttered. Will gave her a small smile.

"Alive is better than not alive." He said. Then he remembered why they were all there and frowned. Nina pretended she didn't notice. Allie finally began her speech.

"Um… I just… I'll keep it brief. I just wanna give you an update on everything. Um, everything that's happened. There was an arrest this morning. Greg Dewey. Um… we're keeping him in an undisclosed location until we figure out what happened. You know, if there was anyone else involved. We're taking care of him. Making sure he has everything he needs. Cassandra… I know she would have wanted that." Allie said. "Um… I'll let everyone know when there are more updates. Until then… uh, you can all go back home or to your work duty."

Everyone filed out. Nina stood and Will looked up at her.

"You aren't waiting for Allie?" He asked. Nina shoved her hands in her pockets.

"Uh, I was gonna go back to Luke's. I wanna talk to Grizz about something. But I'll see you both for dinner?" She asked. Will nodded and Nina sped out of the church. She didn't actually have anything to talk to Grizz about, she just wanted to be out of Allie's house for a while. Even if it made her sound bitchy. She had really grown to care for Allie but she still needed a break from the constant stress of having a whole town to take care of.

"Nina!" Harry called out. She was going to pretend that she didn't hear him but Campbell shot his hand out and caught her by the arm. He pulled her around the corner of the church where he and Harry were standing. Nina tried to pull her arm away but Campbell tightened his grip.

"Hey." She said awkwardly. "What's up?"

"I just wanted… you know, an update. Like a real update. Not that bullshit Allie told us." Harry said.

"You mean you want to know if you're still a suspect?" She asked. Harry blanched slightly and Nina felt guilty. "Uh, no. I mean, I don't think so. I really shouldn't be telling you guys about any of this."

"Don't worry." Campbell said, giving Nina what he probably thought was a reassuring smile. "We don't like to gossip."

"Okay." Nina said softly. "Well, as long as you didn't help Dewey kill her then you're probably fine… Um, can I go now? Grizz is expecting me."

Harry nodded and Campbell dropped his grip on Nina's arm. She backed up a few paces before turning her back to them and speed walking down the street. Campbell had always been creepy but now that she knew he had no empathy, he genuinely scared her. She really wished Elle would text her back.

Grizz and Clark were playing video games when Nina got to Luke's house. They told her that Luke was on Allie duty and Jason was watching Dewey. Clark beckoned her over and pulled Nina into his lap. She curled into him and he went back to playing video games. Grizz barely noticed. Their mom had made him join the football team when he was in 7th grade and ever since, he and Nina had been almost constantly surrounded by his friends. It was a breath of fresh air. For the first time in days, Nina wasn't forced to constantly think about Cassandra's death and Allie's mental health and the trial. Her eyelids started fluttering closed, almost asleep, when Clark tensed.

"You know, my little sister used to date Dewey." He said suddenly. Grizz grunted, focused on winning the game. Nina shut her eyes again and buried her face in Clark's varsity jacket.

"I can't imagine him being a very good boyfriend." She said softly.

"He wasn't." Clark said. "He was a dick to her."

"Being a dick doesn't make you guilty." Grizz said. "Unfortunately."

"But he is guilty, right?" Clark asked.

"Probably. But we can't really know for sure." Nina said, her voice partially muffled by the fabric. "Gordie is a genius but he can't DIY a forensics lab."

"So, we're just gonna let him go?" Clark asked. Grizz shrugged.

"I guess we'll know after his trial." Grizz said. Clark grunted.

"But what would make him for sure guilty?" Clark asked.

"If he said he did it." Nina suggested. Grizz nodded, his eyes never leaving the TV screen. "To someone more reliable than Harry."

Clark had more questions but he never got the chance to ask them. Jason came up from the wine cellar and told him it was time for a shift change. Nina stood reluctantly to let Clark move and Jason took his place. He too, pulled her into his lap. Nina got comfortable again, her eyes shut and her face buried in her friend's jacket. The room lapsed into silence until Jason unpaused the video game.

Nina woke up a few hours later, still curled in Jason's lap. Grizz and Jason had been joined by Luke, Allie, Will, and Helena. They were talking about Dewey's trial. Helena had agreed to be his defense lawyer.

"What are we going to do if he's guilty?" Luke asked. Allie groaned and held her head in her hands.

"I don't know yet." She said. "I just want to go home."

"I'll drive you guys." Grizz said. "I have guard duty anyway."

Nina stood, startling Jason who still thought she was asleep. She left Luke's house with Allie, Will, and Grizz, her eyelids only half open. As soon as they got in the car, Allie let her head drop back against the seat and she groaned again.

"I'm exhausted. This whole thing is… exhausting." She said. Grizz reached over and patted Allie on the knee while driving.

"It'll be okay, Allie." He said. He gave Allie a small speech on philosophy and the justice system that Nina tuned out. She was pretty sure Allie had tuned him out as well. When they got back to Allie's, Grizz stayed outside. Nina and Allie went up to Allie's room and Allie flopped on her bed. Nina slipped off her shoes and joined her.

"What should I do?" Allie asked. Nina didn't have an answer so she just rolled on her side and spooned Allie in hopes of giving her some comfort. Allie grabbed Nina's hand and held her arm across her chest. "What would you do? If someone killed Grizz. Would you like, get revenge? Is it revenge? Or is it justice?"

"I've been trying to figure it out but I still don't know. Nothing really seems bad enough. Like, we can't give him garbage duty for the rest of his life. Especially when kids who haven't done anything wrong are picking up trash too. It's not fair." Nina said. "Part of me just wants to keep him in the wine cellar forever."

"But we can't. I mean, we have to do something… real. We have to show everyone that we… have rules." Allie said.

"I think if it were Grizz…" Nina paused. "I think I'd want revenge. But I think Grizz would want me to give them a second chance. You know? Give them a chance to change. But… I think that if it were me, he wouldn't give them a second chance. I think that if someone killed me… I think he'd kill them in exchange."

"It's not revenge, it's justice." Allie said, more to herself than to Nina.

"People need to know that they can't just do whatever they want. They can't just kill someone and not have any consequences. That's the only way we'll keep this place safe." Nina said. Allie pulled Nina's arm tighter around her body.

"Goodnight, Nina." She said softly.

"Night, Allie."

Neither girl was able to fall asleep. After a few minutes of laying in the dark, Allie gave up.

"I have a stupid question." She said. Nina hummed and Allie continued. "Did you sleep with Harry?"

"No." Nina said. That wasn't the question she was expecting and she almost laughed because of how awkward it was. "Did you sleep with Harry?"

Allie didn't answer immediately and Nina gasped.

"You did! Do you like him?" Nina asked. Allie shrugged, her shoulder nudging Nina's chin.

"I don't know. I did. I don't think I do anymore." She mused. Nina laughed a little and Allie laughed too.

"I have an equally stupid question." Nina said, a little quieter. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to ask but she did anyway. "Did you sleep with Will?"

Allie rolled onto her back so that she could see Nina's face. The moonlight reflected off her wide eyes.

"No! Why? Do you like him?" She asked. Her tone was gossipy and strange and Nina cringed.

"God, I don't even know. But I know that you like him. So, I was just like… curious." She said. Allie sighed.

"I kissed him." Allie said. She played with the fingers on Nina's hand that was still draped across her stomach. "But he got mad at me."

"Sometimes, I think that we're like… I don't know. Vibing. And then other times I think he hates me and all we do is argue." Nina said. Allie nodded.

"I know exactly what you mean. Like, sometimes you'll think he's into you and then the next second he's like friendzoning you and telling you about his crush on Kelly." Allie said.

"Fucking Kelly." Nina joked. "Everyone loves her. Even I have a crush on Kelly and I'm like 80% sure I'm straight."

"I want to hate her so bad but she's too fucking nice." Allie said. Nina laughed. "Okay, fuck, marry, kill; Will, Clark, Jason."

"Oh god." Nina groaned.

"You have to!" Allie said. Nina pulled the blankets up to her eyes.

"Fine. Okay. Um… Marry Jason… uh, fuck Will, kill Clark." She decided.

"Seriously?" Allie asked, scandalized. Nina laughed.

"Jason is a surprisingly good boyfriend!" Nina defended. "What about you?"  
"Okay. Um, fuck Clark, marry Will, kill Jason." She said.

"You would fuck Clark?" Nina asked. Allie nodded. Nina laughed. "Okay. Fuck, marry, kill; Clark, Gordie, and Luke."

"Marry Luke, fuck Clark, kill Gordie." Allie said easily.

"Really?" Nina asked, surprised.

"I could never do anything with Gordie. He was into Cassandra, it would be too weird." Allie explained. Nina nodded in understanding. "You?"  
"Marry Clark, fuck Gordie, kill Luke." She said. Then it was Allie's turn to be shocked.

"You would fuck Gordie?" She asked.

"Definitely. I just feel like he's one of those guys that would google 'how to be good at sex' and he would like, straight up rock your world." Nina said. Allie broke into a fit of giggles and Nina joined in.

* * *

Allie woke up early the next morning. Or maybe she had never actually fallen asleep. Either way, she woke Nina up when she was getting dressed and pacing around her room. Nina convinced her to eat some breakfast before they went to the church for the trial but Allie struggled to get anything down. The two of them waited in the back office while the Guard set up the church for the trial. Once everyone arrived, Nina sat in the pews and Allie began.

"Okay, let's start." Allie said. When no one heard her, she adjusted the microphone and a loud ringing noise went through the church. It got everyone's attention and Allie was able to begin. "Okay. That works. So um… I think when you do something for the first time, part of you thinks that you're just pretending. I'm not this person, I'm just putting on the clothes. And this is so weird. I mean, we've all seen it on TV, but… actually I think that just makes it worse. A week before my sister died, I was complaining about how crazy it was that we had to take care of everything. You know, everything was our decision. And she was like, "Really? Well, Alexander the Great conquered the whole world when he was our age." Which was kind of annoying of her." Allie said. The crowd laughed.

"Well… we own it all now. The good and the bad. And it's for real. This is the trial of Greg Dewey, who is accused of the murder of Cassandra Pressman on the night of June 23rd. Gordie will be the prosecutor. Helena is defending Dewey. And you guys have to listen to everything carefully." Allie told the jury. They all nodded. "And at the end of the trial, you'll decide if he's guilty or not."

Gordie began his prosecution. He described how he found the bullets and how he connected them to Dewey's gun. He was giving a pretty good argument until Dewey shouted that the gun was planted. Helena took the stand and started asking questions, suggesting that there could be more guns that were hidden and they couldn't prove that it was Dewey's. Gordie had to admit that it was possible that it wasn't Dewey's gun, the crowd started whispering among themselves.

"Another thing," Helena said, "Dewey has bruises all over him."

"Yeah, they fucking beat me." Dewey said. Nina is just as shocked as the rest of the crowd.

"We had a problem guarding him." Allie explained. "It won't happen again."

"You arrest him, you beat him up." Helena said.

"It's not relevant!" Allie said.

"It's not relevant how the people in charge of this prosecution behave?" Helena demanded.

"It was a mistake. It has nothing to do with whether he's guilty or not. Move on." Allie said. The looks on the faces of the jury said otherwise. Nina thought, for the first time since they arrested Dewey, that he might actually get away with it. Helena sat down and Gordie called Harry up as a witness. He asked Harry to tell everyone what Dewey had confessed to him.

"Uh, we were just talking, talking shit, or whatever, and he basically just came out and said that he killed her." Harry said. Dewey stood furiously.

"You fucking asshole!" He seethed. Jason grabbed Dewey and pushed him back in his seat.

"Dewey, sit down or I'll have the guard remove you!" Allie said. Helena warned him to stop but Dewey kept the nasty glare on his face.

"You were saying?" Gordie prompted.

"He had this creepy smile, like he was proud of himself." Harry said.

"So, he confessed?" Gordie asked.

"Basically, yeah." Harry said. Gordie sat back down and Helena stood to question the witness.

"Basically?" She asked. Harry nodded. "Were those his exact words? 'I killed her.'"

"Not his exact words." Harry admitted. "But that's what he fucking meant."

"Why? Why would he say that to you? Why would he confess to you?" Helena asked. Harry took a while to answer.

"He thought it would make me happy." He finally said. Nina took a sharp breath and Will offered her his hand to grip onto.

"Make you happy? That Cassandra was dead. Why would he think that?" Helena asked.

"I don't know… I guess cause he thought we were rivals in high school." Harry said.

"Why should we believe you? You say that Dewey confessed to you but it's your word against his. Maybe you put the gun in his house. Maybe you set him up." Helena theorized.

"That's not what happened." Harry scoffed.

"It's just your word. Maybe you're lying." Helena said.

"Yeah. Cause I look really good right now." Harry agreed sarcastically. "I didn't need to do this. Do you want to be here? Doing this? Defending him? I don't want to be here. I'm only here because I have no other fucking choice. He killed her. And if we don't do something about it, he's gonna kill someone else. Probably me, so." Harry said. He sank back into his seat and Helena sighed.

"No further questions." She said. "Is that what I'm supposed to say?"

Allie called a recess. The trial would resume in the morning and the jury would give their decision. The Guard, minus Clark, took Dewey back to Luke's house. Clark took watch over Allie's. Nina had kitchen duty but Will gave her the day off so she could stay with Allie. Neither of them wanted to talk, so Nina made them dinner and they mindlessly watched movies. Eventually, Allie couldn't stand it anymore and she got Grizz to take her to see Dewey.

The next morning was somber. Everyone gathered in the church, waiting to hear the verdict. The jury came out of the back room nearly an hour later and took their seats at the front of the church. Everyone was silent.

"Do you have a verdict?" Allie asked. The girl nodded. She stood up.

"Guilty." She said. "We find him guilty."

The crowd started clapping. Honestly, it made Nina feel sick. She knew he was guilty. She knew he did it. She knew what they were going to do to him. She reached for Will's hand again and he gave hers a squeeze. A few stray tears dripped down Allie's face and when the crowd finally quieted, she spoke again.

"Thank you, to the jury, for doing its job. Now it's up to me to decide his sentence… It could take a while so… Guards, will you take him back to his cell? Um, everyone, we can all go home." Allie said. People rose to leave but Helena stopped them.

"He wants to make a statement." Helena said. Allie spoke into the microphone.

"Okay. Uh, everyone, can everyone sit back down? Dewey has something he wants to say." Allie said. Everyone reluctantly sat back down. Dewey stood up and faced the crowd.

"Cassandra… was a fucking bitch. So is her sister and her black boyfriend that makes all the rules." He announced. The crowd burst into gasps and chatter.

"You make me sick, you fucking murderer!" Jessica shouted back at him. Dewey gave her the finger.

"Be quiet!" Allie shouted. She was crying again. "Let him say what he thinks."

"So are all the women here." Dewey continued. "Fucking bitches who won't give us the time of day, who think we owe them everything? I killed Cassandra for everyone because she had it coming. Because the night of prom, we were all at Harry's house, and he said he wished she was dead."

Nina turned to look at Harry, who hid his face in his hands.

"And he knows it! And everybody who hated that bitch knows it." Dewey ranted.

"That's fucking bullshit!" Harry shouted.

"And Campbell helped me plan it. He was there. He planned the whole thing." Dewey added. Campbell looked surprised and put out.

"Hey! Wait, wait-" Campbell protested.

"So, fuck all of you!" Dewey finished.

"He's obviously a fucking liar. I'm not- I'm not listening to this anymore." Campbell said. He turned to walk out of the church but Grizz and Jason blocked his way. The crowd erupted into chaos and Will turned to Allie.

"What do you want us to do?" He asked.

"Arrest him." Allie decided. The crowd cheered and Grizz dragged Campbell out of the church. Dewey had a sick grin on his face as Luke dragged him out too. Yeah, Nina thought, Dewey deserves to die.


	6. Chapter 6

Nina thought the fallout would be swift but it was agonizingly slow. They kept Campbell locked up in Allie's parents room so he would be away from Dewey. Nina avoided that part of the house like it was the plague. She was there for Allie, but all her free time was spent at the dance studio just so she didn't have to be in the same house as Campbell. She wondered if Elle was happy that he was gone or if she missed him. After almost a week, Grizz texted Nina and told her that Elle was being taken to Allie's house to talk about Campbell. Nina practically sprinted back to the house. Elle and Jason were in the kitchen when she got there. Elle looked surprised to see her and kept her eyes on the counter.

"Hi… Do you want some water?" Nina asked awkwardly. Elle shook her head no. Nina chewed on her lip while they waited for Allie to come back in silence. She finally came down about twenty minutes later.

"Why am I here, Allie?" Elle asked.

"I just want to talk." Allie told her. "Campbell says he has nothing to do with Cassandra's death."

"I can't- No. I can't talk about Campbell." Elle said, shooting out of her seat. Jason stood up to block her exit and Elle gave Allie an annoyed look. "Are you threatening me?"

"No." Allie said.

"We wouldn't do that to you." Nina added. Allie nodded in agreement.

"I need your help, Elle. Please." Allie dropped her voice to a whisper so that Campbell couldn't overhear them. "Has Campbell ever said anything to you about wanting her dead or hating her?"

"No. He never said a word to me." Elle denied. Allie leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms.

"Are you protecting him? Because you love him." She asked.

"No." Elle said.

"No, you aren't protecting him? Or no, you don't love him?" Allie asked.

"For fucks sake, if he found out I was-" Elle started.

"He won't find out." Allie cut her off.

"You can't promise me that." Elle said. "You don't care about me. You don't. Not as much as you care about getting revenge for your sister."

Nina wanted to deny it but she knew Elle wouldn't believe her.

"Fine. Don't help. I'll let him go." Allie said. Elle shifted uncomfortably.

"He never said a word to me." Elle repeated. "That's the truth. But if you're asking me if I think he's capable of doing something like this? I think he's capable of anything. But if you go after him… you can't just capture him. You can't just injure him. You have to kill him. You have to kill him or let him be."

"Elle… is he hurting you?" Nina asked. Elle shook her head no.

"No. No. He's not… he's just- I don't need anything." She said. Nina didn't believe her. She briefly considered just kidnapping Elle and forcing her to stay away from him but she knew that wouldn't work. And Elle was really strong, like physically. If she wanted to go back to Campbell, she would. "Can I go home?"

"Okay." Allie said. "Jason, take her home."

Jason nodded. He reached for Elle but she stepped back quickly. She walked out ahead of him and he followed her out of the house. Allie collapsed into a chair and pulled on her hair in frustration.

"Fuck." Allie said, drawing the word out for a long time.

"Fuck." Nina agreed. She took a deep breath but she couldn't ease the knot in her chest. "Uh, I've gotta take a shower. Do you want me to sleep in your room tonight?"

"No, it's okay." Allie said, her voice was muffled by her hair. Nina nodded, even though Allie wasn't looking, and went upstairs. Elle's conversation had only made Nina feel more paranoid about Campbell being in the house. She doubled checked that the bathroom door was locked before getting in the shower and accidentally used body wash in her hair instead of shampoo.

The next day, Nina had a rare day off. She should have known that in West Ham, days off aren't really off. Everyone kept coming to Allie's to have meetings and make plans and complain about plans. It was more exhausting than garbage duty and she started wishing that she was knee deep in trash just so that she didn't have to deflect more Allie questions. Even Grizz came over to ask if she'd made a decision yet.

"People are talking trash in public now, in the street. In the cafeteria?" He asked Will.

"Yeah. Everyone." Will said.

"Well, we packed 'em into houses together. Four to a room. It's the perfect breeding ground for an epidemic of discontent." Gordie said.

"You supported that decision." Nina pointed out. Gordie shrugged.

"What are they saying exactly?" Becca asked.

"Just that they want her to decide." Will said.

"Three days now. Her not deciding makes her seem weak. And her being weak, that's the scariest thing." Grizz said. Nina couldn't help but defend Allie.

"She's not weak." She said. "You try deciding whether someone lives or dies. It's not like she's having a good time."

"People are going to start turning against her." Grizz pointed out. The door opened and Jason ran in.

"Where's Allie?" He asked.

"In her room." Will told him. He shouted for Allie to come down.

"How's it going?" Jason asked. Grizz made a weird face and everyone else looked away.

"Pretty good." Gordie lied.

"Anything yet?" Jason asked. Allie finally came down to the kitchen.

"What's up?" She asked.

"It's Dewey. Third meal in a row. He won't eat." Jason told her.

"What, like a hunger strike or something?" She asked.

"I guess. I can't really force him to eat." Jason said.

"We could." Nina pointed out. "They did it to the suffragettes." Everyone ignored her.

"How long can someone last without eating?" Allie asked Gordie.

"Oh, a while." He said. "I can go to the library and check it out."

"Okay. Then he can lose some weight." Allie decided. Nina suppressed a groan. "I don't want word of this getting out. Like, I don't want it to turn into a weird protest thing. You know?"

"We shouldn't be doing stuff in secret." Becca said softly.

"What?" Allie asked.

"Doing stuff in secret is a slippery slope." Becca said. Allie walked out of the house without saying anything. Grizz sighed and leaned against the island.

"Okay, either one of you says something to her, or I will." Grizz said.

"Fine. You do it." Nina said. Grizz scoffed. "What?"

"You're a good person, Nina. But that doesn't make you a good friend." He told her. Nina stormed upstairs.

It was a few hours later when Grizz finally went up to his sister's room. He knocked on the door and when she didn't answer, he let himself in anyway. She was sitting at the desk, just staring at herself in the mirror. When he came in, she looked away and started painting her nails a pale pink color she'd gotten from her old home. Grizz set a mug of tea on the desk next to her and sat at the foot of her bed. Nina tried to ignore him. She wasn't ready to forgive him yet, especially because he was right. Grizz sighed. Nina missed her nail and painted part of her cuticle.

"You have to be there when we talk to her." Grizz said. "You're her friend now. She trusts your opinion."

"Why? My opinion doesn't mean anything." Nina said bitterly.

"It does to her." He said. Nina chewed on her lip and focused on her nail polish. "It matters to me."

"I don't want to have an opinion on this." She said quietly.

"Well, you have to. We all do. Or Allie will never decide." Grizz said. Nina turned around in her chair and looked her older brother in the eye.

"I don't want an opinion on this because I think Dewey should die." She said. Grizz stared at her for a second before nodding.

"That's an option." He said.

"Is it?" She asked, her voice harsh.

"Yeah, Nina, it is." Grizz said, his tone just as harsh. He took a deep breath and Nina turned back around in her chair, resuming her nail painting. Grizz hated fighting with her. It always ended with them both in tears and Nina almost always getting her way.

"You think we should kill him?" Nina asked quietly.

"That's not what I'm saying." Grizz said.

"Then what are you saying?" She asked. He groaned again. Nina finished painting her nails, screwed the lid back on the bottle of polish, and tossed it away. "What? Allie needs to have an opinion but you don't? Who do you think is going to dole out the punishment, Grizz?"

"Don't- Don't put this on me, okay?" He said tiredly.

"We forced her to take this position. We forced her to take responsibility of the whole town. She didn't want that." Nina said. Guilt was starting to overpower her anger and her voice was thick with unshed tears. "Now we're punishing her for it… There is no right answer here, Grizz. Either she kills him and everyone hates her, or she lets him go and everyone hates her. Either way, everyone is angry. Either way, we aren't safe."

Grizz stood from the bed and pulled his sister into a hug. Nina tried to calm her breathing but a rough sobbed escaped and she clung to Grizz's jacket.

"I'm fucking scared." She admitted.

"It's okay." Grizz mumbled, his face buried in her hair. He gently rocked her while Nina soaked his jacket in tears. "I'm not gonna let them hurt you or Allie. But we have to make a decision."

* * *

When Nina was done crying, Grizz led her back down to the living room to wait for Allie. Will, Gordie, and Luke were all there too, dutifully ignoring Nina's sniffles. None of them were enjoying their positions but they told Allie they would be by her side and they intended to stick to it. It was past dark when Allie finally came home. She walked into the living room to see them all sitting in the dark like disappointed parents whose kid had missed curfew.

"You shouldn't go out without one of us with you, Allie. It was dumb." Luke said. Allie rolled her eyes and started going to her room.

"Hey, nothings gonna be different tomorrow. Or the day after." Grizz said. Allie stopped.

"I know that." She said.

"We can't guard him forever. We don't have the resources." Grizz said. Allie finally looked up at him. "We're not starting a prison."

"We can if we have no other choice." Allie said. "What else are we gonna do? We gonna ground them? Take away their video games for killing my sister?" She asked.

"Obviously not." Will said.

"We could drop them in the forest or something." Allie suggested.

"We have no way of guarding our borders. If they live, they'll just be back." Grizz said.

"I know that." Allie said.

"We have to consider all of our options, Allie." Will said.

"No!" Allie said. "No way. I know it's okay to threaten that. I've threatened it. But we can't actually… We know them! We went to school with them a month ago. You can't actually fucking kill them. We don't even know if Campbell is guilty! You want to talk about executing him too?"

"Allie, even if Campbell didn't kill Cassandra, the kids a fucking psycho, alright? It's only a matter of time before he does something." Luke reasoned.

"You can't punish people for who they are!" Allie shouted. "For what they might do! Do you hear what you're saying? You're talking about executing someone because you're afraid of them! This conversation is fucking insane. This is what happens to you when you get a little power. God."

Allie turned and started back up the stairs.

"We need a decision, Allie." Nina begged.

"Fuck off." Allie said, continuing up the stairs.

"Allie-" Gordie called. Allie slammed her door shut in response. Nina stood up to go to bed.

"Nina-" Grizz started.

"It's fine." She snapped. She took a calming breath. "It's fine. I'm just tired and- and my nail polish is ruined. And I just want to go to bed. Okay? You know what my say is, if I have one."

Grizz nodded solemnly. Nina went to her room and stayed there until Allie dragged everyone back to the church in the morning.

Allie stood at the front of the church, her makeshift judge table still in the center of the stage. She faced everyone and took a deep breath.

"I had two decisions to make. Two rulings. First, Campbell. This court is not about vengeance. It's about fairness and justice. The only evidence we have against Campbell, which is from Dewey himself, is unreliable. Without evidence, there can be no trial. So last night, I ordered that Campbell be released from custody." Allie announced. Nina hadn't heard them last night. She turned around in her pew to look for Elle, just to make sure she was there. They should have warned her. Elle met her eyes briefly and looked away.

"It was the right thing to do. As for Dewey… he's been found guilty of murder. And the punishment for murder is death." Allie said. Half the crowd was outraged, the other half stayed silent. Allie continued. "Let this be a warning to everyone who even thinks about using violence on anyone in this town. We will respond. Eye for an eye."

"This is not a court! You're fucking crazy!" Dewey shouted. Jason and Luke forcibly dragged Dewey out of the church while he shouted. "You have no right! I'm gonna kill you, bitch! I'm gonna kill you then you'll be dead, just like your sister!"

Allie tried to keep a strong face but a lone tear slipped down her cheek. Once Dewey was gone, and his angry rants were no longer audible, Allie dismissed the jury and the crowd. Allie, Nina, Will, and the rest of the Guard walked out together. They were barely twenty steps out of the church when Campbell strolled up to them.

"Don't make a scene." Allie warned her friends quietly.

"I thought it'd be better if I gave you some space this morning. What'd you decide?" He asked.

"We're executing him tomorrow." Allie told him. Campbell looked a little surprised but nodded in approval.

"Solomon. You split the baby." He joked. Allie nodded and Campbell strolled away. They all walked home in silence.

The next morning, the Guard collected Dewey from his cell. Allie, Gordie, and Will planned to join them in the execution. Helena came along to pray for Dewey. Nina, despite Grizz's better judgement, joined them. She couldn't play a part in condeming a man to death and then pussy out at the last minute. And she definitely couldn't let her brother go through it alone. Gordie gave Grizz, Luke, and Jason each a gun. One with bullets and two with blanks, so they wouldn't know who killed him. The same way they used to do firing squads. Dewey begged for his life.

When it was time, Helena stepped forward. She placed her hand on Dewey's shoulder and prayed. Dewey sobbed. When Helena finished, she joined Allie and Will off to the side. Nina stood with her brother.

"You can still change your mind." Helena told Allie. Allie stepped away from her.

"Grizz, buddy, please!" Dewey begged. Grizz pushed past Nina and puked onto the ground. Nina tried to comfort him but he pushed her away. When he finally stood back up, she took the gun from his hands.

"No-" He started.

"I've got it." She said. She took the gun and joined Luke and Jason. "How- Um, how do I?"

Luke turned the safety off and cocked the gun, he handed it back to her. It was heavier than she expected.

"Allie?" Luke prompted.

"On the count of three." Allie said. Nina lifted the gun and aimed it at Dewey. It was hard to see through her tears. She tried to block the sound of Dewey begging for his life but it didn't work. When Allie hit three, Nina pulled the trigger. Dewey whined.

"What? What the fuck?!" He cried. They'd missed. They fucking missed.

"We have to do it again." Allie said. Nina whimpered. "Can we do it again?"

"The chambers are full." Gordie told her.

"Please! I'm sorry!" Dewey begged. Nina felt sick. She swallowed roughly.

"On my count." Allie said.

"Fuck." Nina whispered. She cocked the gun. She was having trouble holding her hands steady.

"Wait." Allie called. Nina let the gun drop to her side and gasped, trying to keep her breathing steady so she wouldn't cry more. Allie strode over to the Guard. She took the gun out of Nina's hand. "I've got it."

"Allie." Nina whispered.

"Go. I can do it." She said. Nina stumbled out of the way. Will grabbed onto her and Nina leaned on him to keep herself upright. Allie aimed the gun at Dewey's head, a steely look came over her features.

"Call the play, Luke." Jason said. Luke counted down. At two, Nina buried her face in Will's shoulder. The guns went off. Will covered Nina's head with his hand, blocking Dewey from view. When Dewey's pleas fell silent, she knew he was dead. Helena sobbed quietly into her hands. No one spoke for a while. Nina didn't move her head but she heard Luke walk over to Helena.

"We need to bury him." Allie said eventually. "Out here. Not with Cassandra and Emily."

"I'm, uh, gonna take her home." Will said, his voice gravelly. Nina couldn't see but she assumed that Allie had nodded.

Will led her back through the woods. She kept her face buried in his shoulder until they were out, tripping over sticks and leaves on the way. They walked back to Allie's house in silence. Nina didn't think she could speak without breaking down. Will brought her directly to her bed and pulled her into his chest. They laid in silence until Nina could breathe again.

"When I was a kid," Will spoke suddenly. Nina startled and Will waited for her to relax before he continued. "Um, I would get shuffled from foster home to foster home, I never really had a place that I could call mine. So, I would make the perfect house in my head. Every time I got upset or I was told that I had to move again, I would pretend I was in that house. It would change as I got older. Instead of a mansion, it became just… a regular, two bedroom house. Maybe with a garage. Always with a bay window that I could sit in and read. But the most important part was the fridge."

Nina laughed softly. She shifted so that her head was on Will's chest instead of buried in his neck and he tightened his grip on her.

"Don't laugh, I'm serious. One of the two door ones with the freezer on the bottom and an ice maker on the door." He said.

"That's all you wanted?" Nina asked quietly.

"Yeah. I mean, a wife and kids, maybe, but… that's it. Just the fridge." He said.

"You sound like Grizz." Nina said. Will mumbled an apology and she smiled. "When teachers used to ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he always just said 'happy'. And I thought it was such a cop out for the longest time until I realized he was being genuine. When other kids were still saying they wanted to be astronauts and billionaires, he just wanted to be happy."

"That's sweet." Will said.

"It wasn't, actually. It was really fucking sad." Nina realized. She spoke softly, "I never knew what I wanted to be growing up. I still don't, but I guess it doesn't really matter. The only thing I knew was that if I had kids, I would always let them be themselves. I wouldn't force them to be someone else just to make me look better. I think… I think she broke him… Just a little bit."

Will rubbed her back gently. He didn't say anything else until almost an hour later. They heard the front door open, a few pairs of footsteps, and the door to Allie's room closing. Nina took a shaky breath and looked up at Will.

"You should go." She said. "You're her best friend."

Will nodded, still absentmindedly rubbing small circles on Nina's back. It took him a few minutes to stand and leave Nina in her bed. When he finally did, Nina went down to the living room. Jason was booting up a video game while Grizz stared at the TV with dead eyes. Nina sat beside her brother and wrapped her arms around him. Grizz pulled her into his side.

Allie and Will came back down a few hours later. Still, no one spoke. The only sound was Jason's video game and Luke uncapping another beer. Eventually, Gordie wandered in with a cookie sheet.

"Found some pizza bagels in the freezer. In the basement. Anyone?" He offered. No one was very hungry. "Allie?"

"Not hungry." Allie muttered.

"Are those the kind with pepperonis?" Luke asked. Jason shoved one in his mouth.

"Does it really matter?" Will asked Luke, standing up and going to the fridge for more beer.

"I don't really want to eat meat right now." Luke said. The statement made Nina nauseous. Jason took the pizza bagel out of his mouth and put it back on the sheet.

"Those are still frozen in the middle, bro." He told Gordie.

Gordie dejectedly set the sheet tray on the table and sat beside Nina.

"Wish I could order Domino's." Luke said. Will came back with two beers. When Allie didn't take the second one, he gave it to Nina.

"You should eat something." Grizz said quietly. "You'll make yourself sick."

Harry walked into the living room and Luke sat up straight.

"The fuck are you doing here?" Will asked. Even Jason paused his video game and gave Harry a dirty look. Harry ignored them.

"Hey, Allie…" Allie didn't look at him. "Allie-"  
"What do you want?" She asked.

"Can we talk? Not- Not here. I mean. Just us." Harry said. When Allie didn't move, he swallowed and continued. "Okay. Um… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what happened and for what I said. I never meant for… any of this… any of that to- to turn into-"  
"Get out." Allie whispered.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Get out." Allie repeated.

"Yeah… yeah." Harry said. He turned and left the house. Grizz put a firm hand on Nina's shoulder, like he was expecting her to go after Harry. And she had considered it. The broken look on his face only made her feel worse. But Allie needed her and Nina didn't want anyone to think she was taking Harry's side. She went to the kitchen to get some edible food and brought it back to share with Gordie. Allie went to her room. A few minutes later, Grizz followed her.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been five months since the execution of Greg Dewey. Things had gone back to normal. Or at least, as normal as they could be. Nina was attending another one of Allie's weekly mandatory town meetings. Gwen gave everyone the announcements.

"Uh, so, new class sign-up sheets are posted in the church lobby. Um, we've just added an improv class and due to popular demand, a second jiu-jitsu class. Oh, and finally, I hope to see you all tomorrow for movie night." She finished. Allie took the mic and thanked Gwen.

"Okay, I just want to remind everybody that Thursday is Thanksgiving, so bring all your recipes to Will so he can make sure that you guys have the right ingredients. Um, next we have an update from our committee on resources." Allie said. Nina stepped up to the microphone but Lexie cut them off.

"What about the committee on going home?" Lexie asked loudly.

"Gordie and Bean promised me a report on Thursday." Allie told her.

"Are we going home?" Lexie asked.

"Not before Thursday." Allie said. Everyone laughed. "Nina?"

"Okay." Nina took the microphone to give her report. "So, we finished our audit on food supplies, and based on our current rationing, we have enough food to last us until Spring. This winter won't be a problem but what we have won't last forever. We all knew that. It will start to run low by next summer."

"So, we're all gonna fucking starve?" Erika asked. The crowd talked nervously among themselves and Nina had to speak louder to be heard over everyone.

"Uh, hopefully not. We have a plan. Grizz?" Nina said. Grizz stood up from his seat and turned to face the crowd. Allie gave Nina a nod of approval and encouragement.

"I'm gonna lead a search party to look for farmland and for alternative food supplies. If anyone wants to join me, I'm looking for four or five volunteers to come along with me." Grizz said.

"No fucking way!" A boy shouted from the back. Nina stepped up to the microphone again.

"Let him fucking speak, you dick." She demanded. Allie pulled Nina away from the microphone.

"Look, we all know what happened to Emily." Grizz said glumly. "But this is different. We know what to expect now. We'll be prepared. We'll bring proper supplies."

"Yeah, but we don't know how to farm!" Lexie said. "Like, even if you find this land, who's gonna farm it?"

"We will." Allie said. "All of us. We'll have to learn how. Just like we learned how to do everything else around here. I know it's a lot, and we still have to cook and clean, and do everything else that makes this place work. It's going to get tougher, but what choice do we have? Right? No choice. So, we'll do it. We're just gonna take it step by step, okay? Just… solve each problem as it comes. And I think we can do that… if we stay positive."

Allie dismissed everyone. Nina had agreed to take over the Committee on Resources with Kelly so that Will could focus on the kitchens. The two of them finished counting literally everything in the stores and warehouses. In exchange, Allie made sure that Nina got a few hours off in the afternoon for herself. She still worked her shifts, just like everyone else, but she was able to dance regularly. She was sure it was the only thing keeping her sane, after Dewey.

That's where she was later that day. She was focusing on her feet, not able to get her right foot into the position she wanted it. She hadn't heard the door open. So, when she looked up and saw Clark in the mirror she almost screamed. Clark started laughing until Nina shot him in the face with a spare scrunchie.

"Sorry. Sorry." He said, laughter still coating his voice.

"What are you doing here?" Nina asked. She hated dancing in front of people so she moved over to the bench and sat down. Clark sat beside her.

"I just… wanted to hang out." Clark said. He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. Nina didn't believe him. She 'mm-hmmed' and Clark sighed. "Okay, I need advice and you're like, my best friend."

"Jason is your best friend." She corrected. "Then Grizz, then Luke."

"Okay, but you're my best female friend." He clarified. "Right?"

"Right." Nina agreed. "So… what's up? Do you like, need help finding the clitorus or something?"

"No. At least, I don't think so." He said. He looked unsure and Nina laughed. "Look, promise you won't tell anybody, okay?"

"Promise." Nina said with a nod.

"Gwen and I broke up. Almost a month ago, actually. But she won't let me tell anyone because couples get private rooms. But like… she makes me sleep on the floor and shit. And like, I still care about her but she doesn't want to get back together with me. And it just makes me feel… like, bad inside." He explained. Nina nodded along.

"Okay. So, what do you want, exactly?" She asked. "Do you want to tell people that you broke up? Or do you just want like, permission to keep lying and have your private room?"

Clark shrugged sadly. He dropped his head against the wall and sighed.

"I don't know. I think I want to stop lying but I don't want to hurt Gwen." He said.

"Is Gwen hurting you?" Nina asked. Clark was quiet for a long time. Nina could practically see him working it over in his brain. Eventually, he just changed the subject.

"You should give dance classes." He said. Nina cringed.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." She said.

"Why not? I saw you, you were good." Clark said. She shrugged.

"I'm okay. I'm out of practice. Before we got stuck here I hadn't done any ballet in years. If anyone should teach, it's Elle. She's… beautiful, when she dances." Nina said, a small smile on her face at the memories.

"Why did you quit?" Clark asked.

"'Cause mom forced Grizz to quit. He joined the football team and he was terrified. So, I quit dancing and joined the cheer leading squad so I could support him." She said.

"Grizz was in ballet?" Clark asked, laughing.

"No. He was in tap." Nina said, a goofy grin on her face. "Our mom would have never let him join ballet. It's too girly. He never told you about that?"

"Nope." Clark said, shaking his head.

"Don't tell him I told you." Nina warned. She knew Clark would probably make fun of Grizz the first chance he got. And if she thought Grizz would feel ashamed about his dancing for a second, she would have never mentioned it.

"Can you teach me how to dance?" Clark asked suddenly.

"Like… ballet?" Nina asked. Clark nodded. "Uh, sure."

Nina stood up and grabbed Clark's hands, leading him to the barre. She showed him the five positions.

"No, put your foot like this… okay. Straighten your back and raise your arm. A little higher." She said, moving his limbs into the right spots.

"This kinda hurts." Clark said. Nina nodded.

"Yup." She agreed. "Here. Now, plie. Keep your knees above your toes."

Clark tried to squat and winced.

"Releve." Nina said, standing back up. Clark followed her lead awkwardly.

"When do I get to like… dance on my toes and shit?" He asked. Nina laughed.

"In like, two years. Maybe." She said. Clark frowned. He stood normally again and Nina relaxed her stance. "Are you done?"

"Yeah." Clark said. Nina laughed. Clark threw his arm over her shoulder and led her to the door. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

A few hours later, Nina and Allie sat at Allie's island. They both poured over old recipe cards from Allie's grandma and talked about their favorite Thanksgiving foods. Nina tried to avoid bringing up Will, and especially the fight she'd overheard the night before. Will and Allie had fought a lot since Dewey. It was made even more awkward by Will having to keep an extra set of bedding in Nina's room for the nights that Allie kicked him out. It sort of reminded her of her parents.

"Did you ever eat Ambrosia?" Allie asked, holding the recipe card up to the light.

"Fuck no." Nina said, laughing. Allie looked shocked. "Our aunt made some one year. Grizz ate his and I fed mine to the dog. He threw up neon green all night."

"Grizz or the dog?" Allie asked.

"Both." Nina said. The girls burst into laughter again but fell silent when Will got home and found them in the kitchen.

"Hey. I was looking for you." Allie said awkwardly. Nina wasn't sure if it would be worse if she stayed or if she slunk away.

"You have the last word. I get that. You don't ever have to take my advice but… don't dismiss me." Will said to Allie. "I've been dismissed by people my entire life. I'm done with that. And I'm not gonna take it from you."

"Right, I'm sorry." Allie said. They both stared at each other silently for a second and Nina was afraid to move. "I'm sorry."

"Uh, I'll just give you two a minute." Nina said quietly. Both of them reached out and grabbed Nina's hands.

"No. Stay." Will said.

"Stay." Allie said too, a little more desperately. Nina gave them both an uncomfortable smile and started digging through the recipes again.

"What were you looking for?" Will asked.

"Do you know what Ambrosia is?" Allie asked. Will smiled and shook his head no. "My grandma used to make it every year."

"It's like The Blob but with marshmallows and fruit cocktail." Nina said. Will cringed. Allie nodded in agreement.

"It's like marshmallow throw-up. But it doesn't really feel like a holiday without it." Allie said.

"I'm glad you have good memories of it." Will said. "Personally, Thanksgiving was never really my thing."

"Really? Even with the one family? The one with all the girls." Allie asked. Nina never really asked Will about his childhood in foster care. She never knew when it was appropriate. She tried to look disinterested but listened.

"The Dooleys? With their five daughters?" Will asked. He laughed at the memory. "Too long ago, too short a time."

"Well, I am going to make us ambrosia and we're going to start our own tradition. You're gonna hate it." Allie said grinning.

"It can't be that bad." Will said. Nina and Allie laughed.

"You're gonna regret saying that, masterchef." Nina joked.

"What are you making, Nina?" Allie asked. Nina shrugged, looking at some of the recipes.

"Honestly, I've never been a huge fan of Thanksgiving either." She said. "My mom's idea of a meal was steamed carrots and dry turkey. Exactly 3 ounces… at least until she polished off her second bottle of wine and Grizz snuck me some pie. I fucking love pie."

"Don't you have that like… disease where if you don't eat enough, you die?" Allie asked. "And your mom still didn't feed you?"

"Okay, one; you sound like Clark. Two, technically everyone has that. And three, it's not a disease. It's called hypoglycemia and it's cured by me eating lots and lots of pie." Nina said.

"Then, let's make pie." Allie suggested.

"I'll help." Will offered. "We have premade pie crusts… or we can try to make one from scratch."

"Oh, let's make it from scratch!" Nina said excitedly. "Like real grandmas."

The morning of Thanksgiving, Allie woke Nina up by pacing across her room. Nina groaned, barely able to open her eyes wide enough to see the blonde wearing a hole in the floor. She looked at the clock and saw that it was barely 6 am.

"No offense, Allie. But what the hell do you want?" Nina asked, her voice still thick with sleep.

"I think I need your help." Allie said, still pacing. "I mean, not me, but- I don't know if I should even ask you, considering everything. But, also, you really helped after Cassandra died. And like, you're probably the second most emotionally adept person in town, after Grizz."

"Allie, what do you want?" Nina asked again. Allie stopped pacing and sat at the foot of Nina's bed. She sighed.

"Harry's depressed. And- And he's not coming in to work. And I tried the whole tough love thing, you know? I had to dock his rations. I had to, it's the rules. But I think I might have only made things worse. And I don't want to be responsible for another person…"

Nina sighed and sat up. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Okay. I will go coddle Harry, if it will make you feel better. Okay?" She asked. Allie nodded. She opened her mouth and shut it, then nodded again. Nina slid out of her bed and pulled her shoes on with her pajamas. "Go to Helena's service. I'll meet you back here later and we'll cook. Kay?"

Allie nodded again.

Nina walked to Harry's house. A few people greeted her awkwardly, almost expecting her to act like the Guard or something. Nina suddenly remembered the pair of shoes she stole on Prom night and wondered if anyone ever noticed they were missing. She climbed the steps to Harry's room, knocking gently on the door and walking inside without waiting for a greeting. His room was dark and messy and smelled musty. Harry laid in his bed, barely looking up at Nina when she entered.

"If you're here to take everything away from me, you're too fucking late." Harry mumbled. Nina felt a pang in her chest.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing." Nina said gently.

"Why do you care?" Harry asked. Nina wasn't sure. Or at least, she couldn't give him an answer that wouldn't sound pitying.

"Do you mind if I sit?" Nina asked. Harry made a non committal noise and Nina sat beside him on the bed. When he still didn't respond, she laid next to him. He shifted a little, pressing his back into her side like he was desperate for human contact. Nina rolled over and spooned him. Harry laced his fingers through hers and held them against his chest.

"How can I help you, Harry?" She whispered.

"You can't. I'm unhelpable." He mumbled. Nina pulled him closer and he sighed softly.

"I know you've had a really bad time, Harry. You lost your dad… and then your mom and your sister. I can't even imagine how hard that was. And then everyone invaded your house and touched their things. And everything that happened with Cassandra." Nina said. She felt Harry's tears drip onto one of her wrists. "But you can't focus on just the bad stuff. If you focus on the bad stuff it will eat away at you until there's nothing left."

"What if there's only bad stuff left?" Harry asked.

"Then we have to make good things instead." Nina told him. "I'm serious. I'll help you, okay? I'll come over every morning and… and I'll do my John Cena impression. Seriously, it's really good. It'll cheer you up. But… you have to go to work, Harry. You have to eat."

"Maybe later." Harry sighed. He closed his eyes and his breathing started to even out.

"You can't sleep all day, Harry." Nina said.

"Not all day. Just a nap." He said. Nina didn't believe him but she stayed anyway. She had some time before she met Allie and she couldn't just leave Harry like this.

Nina woke up a few hours later. She had accidentally fallen asleep with Harry wrapped up snugly in her arms. Her phone was vibrating, acting as a shitty alarm clock. She answered it.

"Hello?" She asked, her voice still thick with sleep.

"Where the hell are you?" Allie asked. Nina heard pots and pans banging around in the background and cringed at all the noise.

"Uh, I'm still at Harry's." Nina said. She pulled her phone away from her ear to check the time and swore softly. "Shit. I'll be there in like, ten minutes. Okay?"

"Yeah. Just hurry up. We have to be at the church in time for FOOTBALL!" Allie said, shouting excitedly at the end. Nina groaned. Allie hung up on her and Nina shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"Are you leaving?" Harry asked tiredly. Nina almost groaned again but stopped herself.

"Yeah. Um…. do you think you'll come to dinner, Harry? It's Thanksgiving. I'm making pie." Nina said. She tried to sound chipper without being obnoxious but Harry didn't even open his eyes.

"I don't think so." He said. Nina frowned.

"Okay. Well, maybe I can bring you some food afterwards. And if not, I'll see you for breakfast. Okay?" She asked.

"Okay." Harry mumbled. Nina didn't believe him but she dropped it. She slipped her other hand out of Harry's grasp and crept out of his room.

She had to run all the way back to Allie's to have time to bake her pie. Will was supposed to help the girls cook but he had some last minute kitchen emergency to take care of and left the two of them to their own devices. Allie was so excited and nervous about the day that she barely let Nina shower while her pie was in the oven. Nina got dressed in her Thanksgiving outfit and joined Allie back in the kitchen. A few minutes later, the timer went off and both girls crowded around the oven to check the pie. It was still jiggly in the middle.

"I don't think it's supposed to look like that." Nina said. Allie frowned and checked the clock.

"We have to be at the church in like, five minutes." She said.

"Maybe… maybe it'll keep cooking even after I take it out. Like residual heat or whatever." Nina suggested. Allie nodded.

"Yeah. Totally. That's probably it." Allie agreed. Nina put the pie back in the oven just long enough for the girls to put on their shoes and Allie to grab her Ambrosia. Nina pulled her pie back out of the oven and turned it off. They set off for the church.

The first thing the girls did when they arrived was hunt down Will. They found him in the back going over last minute preparations and table arrangements with Gwen, the resident party planner. Allie and Nina presented their dishes proudly. Gwen took Allie's and put it in the fridge but she wouldn't accept Nina's. Nina wasn't very surprised.

"It looks great, Nina." Will said. "It's just that… I don't… I don't know if people should eat that."

"Yeah. We sort of ran out of time." Allie explained.

"We thought maybe it would keep cooking after I took it out of the oven but…" Nina trailed off.

"Yeah. People definitely shouldn't eat that." Will decided. He took the pie from Nina and she shrugged. "It's okay. You can work on it."

"Hey, it's almost time for football." Gwen said, sort of feeling bad for Nina and her abysmal baking skills. "And Erika went by the school and got a bunch of pom poms so we can cheer the teams on."

"Great!" Nina said genuinely. She was starting to really get into the holiday mood and shake off the darkness from her morning with Harry. The four of them walked through the church to get to the field.

"Great." Allie said sarcastically. "Give me an 'F'."

"F." Nina said, mostly wanting to know what Allie was going to spell.

"Give me a 'U'." Allie said. Nina got the idea and rolled her eyes, shoving Allie jokingly.

"U." Will said, when Nina didn't.

"Can I get a C?" Gwen said, surprising the three other teens. "Can I _please _get a C?"

"Fuck, I miss memes." Allie said.

* * *

After the football game, Allie gathered everyone at the gazebo to give a speech. Nina texted her brother but Grizz didn't respond. She wasn't terribly worried, assuming that he was down at the greenhouses again and lost track of time. She was squished between the Guard and their girlfriends (and Gwen) and was thankful for the residual heat but a little bitter about not being able to see over Luke's shoulder.

"Okay, so the final score is… Luke's Roman: 36, Clark's Guards: 42!" Allie announced excitedly. Everyone cheered except Jason, who pouted about his team's loss.

"Yeah, that's right! Everyone loves my big D!" Clark shouted.

"Thank you, Clark, for being a gracious winner." Allie said sarcastically. "Um, I hope you're all hungry because there's a big Thanksgiving dinner inside the church, thanks to Will. And all of you. First, though, something we've been waiting for for a long time, the Committee on Going Home has a report."

The crowd clapped softly when Gordie and Bean stepped up to the gazebo.

"Okay, so, as you all know, we've been working hard to figure out four essential things: where we are, how we got here, why we're here, and how to get back. In terms of the first question, there have been two hypotheses on the table. This is Earth and everything else is gone, or Earth exists and we're someplace else. So, I think today we have an answer." Gordie said.

"If you remember, ten days after what happened, there was a solar eclipse. At the time, we told you it was a scheduled astronomical event. But after looking at some almanacs, we realized we were wrong. The next total solar eclipse in North America is not until 2024." Bean said.

"So, we've traveled forward in time?" Lexie asked.

"That's what I thought at first but I don't think so now. Um, if you look up, you'll see Orion's Belt and the Big Dipper. All the things you're supposed to see in the sky over the Northern hemisphere." Gordie said. Everyone looked up but Nina didn't really know what she was looking for. Clark put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "But if you step up and take a peek in my old Celestron AstroMaster, you'll see the star Betelguese. Except Betelguese isn't where it's supposed to be. It's a few degrees off."

Lexie stepped forward to look in the telescope and Gordie continued explaining his findings.

"And if you look closer you'll notice that there are no moving objects between us and the moon. Which means, somehow all of our satellites have disappeared." Gordie said.

"What does that even mean?" Jason asked.

"Well, I think it means that this Earth isn't our own. It's like a parallel universe. Almost exactly like ours, but not quite." Gordie said.

A few more people stepped up to look into the telescope. Nina couldn't bring herself to move out from under Clark's hand. She wished Grizz were there.

"Okay." Allie said. "I know that sounds… scary. But we all knew that the answer was going to be weird. Um… I kind of thing. That it's actually kind of hopeful."

"And how do you figure that?" Lexie asked.

"'Cause if this isn't our Earth, then… it means that everything we miss and love is… still there. Our parents are still alive. They're just… somewhere else. And we have to figure out how to get back to them. And we will." Allie said. "I mean, if we went in one direction to get here, there's gotta be a way to get back. Doors work both ways. I really feel like we've just been given some hope. It also means that this place really is a new world. And that we really… as far as we know, are its first people. And this is its first Thanksgiving! Held in year one, in our temporary home of New Ham! Which is now it's official name. Okay. Let's go eat!"

The crowd cheered in agreement and headed into the church. Nina couldn't hold it back anymore so she turned to Clark and Allie who had walked beside her.

"I can't believe Gordie found Beetlejuice on his Celestron AssMaster." Nina said.


	8. Chapter 8

Mid-way through Thanksgiving dinner, Allie came back to the table. She sat between Nina and Gordie, her wine sloshing a little out of her glass.

"Oh my god, Nina. Elle and Campbell are here." Allie said. Nina wasn't surprised to find that she got gossipy when she drank wine. She was surprised that Elle and Campbell showed up. She had barely seen either of them since the whole Dewey thing. Nina had tried, in vain, to get in contact with Elle. Just to see if she was okay. Elle never responded and although Nina was partially convinced that Elle just hated her guts, she couldn't ignore the nagging feeling she had ever since Sam told them about Campbell. But she had to time it right. If she was right, and Campbell was around, she could put Elle in more danger. Allie fell into conversation with Helena and Nina tried to keep up but she was too focused on her old friend.

A little while later, Helena took the stage to give a small Thanksgiving speech.

"Hey, everyone. Hi. So, at Thanksgiving my mom used to make everyone say what they were thankful for." She said. Everyone groaned. "Oh, come on. Nobody? Do I have to go first?"

"Alright, alright." Jason said. Clark pushed him up and Jason turned to address the room. "Um… I'm thankful for… how hard my team fought at touch football. Oh, and I'm thankful that Luke hasn't lost his throwing arm."

"Uh, I'm thankful that I can get stoned everyday without my parents on my ass." Clark said. Everyone laughed. "Though, I miss them giving me a hard time."

"Well, I'm thankful for Clark. For saying what we've all been thinking. You know, we all miss home. We miss our moms, our dads. What we want to say is, 'Wait for us. We'll find our way back.' I also want to say thank you to everyone that cooked tonight. Toast. A toast! To all the cooks!" Allie announced, raising her beer in the air. Everyone toasted. Allie sat back down and Helena took her turn.

"Um, I have something I'm really thankful for. I'm gonna marry Luke. Who does still have his throwing arm and is the love of my life." She announced. Everyone cheered. "You're all invited. It's gonna be the first wedding in the new world. So, hit me up if you know how to make a wedding cake."

"Dessert to celebrate!" Gwen announced from the dessert table.

People started taking desserts to their tables but Nina was more interested in Elle and Campbell. Campbell got up to get more wine and Elle stood too. She pushed her way through the crowd to an empty table and Nina followed her. When she got closer, she saw Elle shoving pie into her mouth with her fingers.

"Elle?" Nina asked. Elle looked up at her with wide eyes and a mouth full of pie. But Campbell got back before they could get any further.

"Whatcha doing?" He asked Elle, eyeing Nina. Elle wiped her mouth and Campbell looked down at the pie. "I thought you hated pumpkin."

"I just needed to make sure that it tasted alright." Elle explained. Another girl came to the table and reached for the pie.

"Our table didn't get pumpkin." She told them with a smile. Nina ripped the pie out of the girls hands and the girl gave her a strange look.

"Wait. Don't. Uh, Elle's Grandma's recipe. I haven't had any in years. There's more over there." Nina said awkwardly. She picked up the last piece of pie and ate it in three bites. The girl left and went to the dessert table uncomfortably. Nina turned back to Campbell and Elle. "It tastes exactly how I remembered. Did you have any, Campbell?"

"I thought your family was Irish?" Campbell asked Elle.

"They are." Nina said. Elle coughed, still working on swallowing all the pie in her mouth. "Her grandma just liked baking. Uh, so maybe I'll see you at the old ballet studio, Elle?"

Elle nodded and Nina set down the now empty pie plate. She didn't know what the fuck just happened, other than that Elle didn't want people to eat the pie. Maybe her's was raw in the middle too. But hey, what's food poisoning to a friend, right?

Nina went back to her table and sat down. She tried to text Grizz again but he didn't respond. It had been dark for a few hours now, there's no way he was still at the greenhouses. She tried not to panic and focused instead on repeating her AssBlaster joke to Gordie, who didn't think it was very funny.

After dessert, Bean took the stage to introduce their entertainment for the night: the improv class. Nina considered herself a nice person with a high threshold for annoying things (perks of being a youngest sibling) but even she thought improv was obnoxious. The play started out just as disastrous as any regular improv but it took a sharp turn when Lexie started imitating Allie. Nina had enough when Lexie started making fun of Cassanda's death.

"There's a bullet in her heart!" Lexie said. One of the other actors stood up.

"I'm Sherlock Frog, detective. Because my quads are killing me. And I believe… there's a murderer in these woods!" He said.

"Yes." Lexie agreed. "And the murderer was you! Arrest him!"

"Me? But I'm a totally innocent detective." The boy said.

"Oh! The crone! She was my sister." Lexie fake cried. "I will be avenged. The killer must die. You, kill the frog."

"Uh, I can't." Bean stuttered, not sure what to do. Nina started to feel sick.

"Oh my god. If you want anything done around here, you have to do it yourself." Lexie stood and pointed a finger gun at the boy. Nina stood up.

"Lexie, what the fuck is wrong with you?" She demanded. Will stood up too and pushed Nina back into her seat. He started clapping, signaling an end to the disastrous improv show. No one else clapped.

"Okay. Great show, guys." He said.

"No! You can't stop me." Lexie shouted. "I'm in charge here. I am the witch!"

"Yeah. We get it." Will said, unimpressed.

"You dare defy my power?" She asked.

"I'm not in this improv, Lexie." Will said.

"Oh but you are. You are a henchman. Arrest the henchmen!" She said. None of the other actors knew what to do. Allie finally stood up.

"That's enough, I think." She said. Allie left the church. Will followed her and a few seconds later, Bean ran out after them. Nina couldn't stamp down her overprotectiveness. She stood up again to address Lexie.

"Hey, we all knew you were a cunt already, Lex. You didn't have to make a literal show out of it." She said. She stormed to the church door, turned around to get a bottle of wine, then stormed out.

When she got back to Allie's, Will, Gordie, and Bean were all standing at the foot of the stairs. Nina set her wine bottle on the side table.

"Is she in her room?" She asked. Will nodded. If Nina had learned one thing while living with Allie, it was that she needed to be alone when she was angry or she'd rip you to shreds. Nina flopped onto the couch. Will, Gordie, and Bean all sat down too.

"I should have punched that bitch in the nose." Nina said. Bean shook her head sadly.

"I feel terrible." She said. Nina felt guilty and took Bean's hand gently.

"Hey, it's not your fault." She said softly. "We've lived together for months now and I can say with pretty good authority that you're an angel and Lexie is an evil bitch."

Bean nodded, not agreeing that Lexie was an evil bitch but appreciating the sentiment. Nina squeezed her hand and then let go, sinking back into the couch. Everyone was silent for a minute and Nina blew out a harsh breath.

"Fuck. I think I drank too much." She mumbled. Will laughed a little.

"What made you think that?" He asked. "The part where you drank half a bottle of wine or the part where you stole another one to bring home?"

"Or the part where you called Lexie a cunt?" Gordie asked. He was the only one of them who had heard Nina before he made it out of the church. Nina snorted.

"Tell me I'm wrong, Gordie." She said. Gordie didn't. Nina sighed again. "But seriously, I feel like shit. I think I'm gonna go up to bed."

"Me too." Bean said. Nina gave her a sad smile and Bean dashed up the stairs before Nina had even stood from the couch.

"Feel free to sleep in my room tonight, Will." Nina said. Will nodded at her and she went up to her room. She changed into her pajamas and curled up in her bed.

Nina woke up a while later feeling even worse than she had before. She scrambled out of bed and ran to the bathroom, barely making it before she threw up half her dinner. She didn't even half enough time to reach for a scrunchie before puking again. She swore, spit, and sank onto the bathroom floor. After knocking on the bathroom door, Bean poked her head in.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Nina vomited again, unable to answer. "Hold on. I'll get Gordie."

Bean left Nina in the bathroom and Nina threw up again, sour liquidy bile that made her throat burn and her eyes well up with tears. Her stomach ached like someone had kicked her in the ribs. Gordie and Bean came in a while later. Nina couldn't hold herself up anymore, she leaned against the cold tile wall, hoping she wouldn't throw up again and whimpering.

"Nina?" Gordie asked as he knelt next to her. "Bean, can you get some water?"

Bean left the bathroom just as Allie started shouting from her bathroom. Nina groaned.

"Can you get Grizz?" Nina asked softly, her words slurring together. Tears dripped from her eyes and she was too tired to wipe them away. "I want… I want my brother."

She heaved again and Gordie pulled her over the toilet so she could puke into it.

"Gordie!" Bean shouted. Gordie swore. He leant Nina against the toilet, making sure she wouldn't fall, and then ran to go check on Allie. Nina whimpered again, not giving a fuck if she seemed pitiful. Her body tried to puke again but she had nothing left, a thick glob of spit slipped out of her mouth and into the toilet. She spit again and then used the last of her energy to lean back against the cold tile. She heard Will run up the stairs, shouting for Allie, and a few seconds later Gordie came back.

"We can't keep going back and forth. I'm gonna bring you to Allie's room, okay? Can you walk?" He asked. Nina mumbled a soft no and Gordie slipped her arm over his shoulder. He hoisted her up. Nina tried to stand but she was too weak. Gordie dragged her into Allie's room and leant her against the foot of the bed. Bean shoved a clean bowl in her hands to puke into and Nina pawed at Bean's arm.

"I want Grizz." She said softly.

"I tried calling him. He won't answer. I'm sorry." Bean said. She gave Nina's hand a squeeze and then put it back on the bowl. She heard Gordie and Will shouting but she couldn't focus on individual words anymore. Gordie tried to stand her up again. Nina's eyes rolled back into her head and she sagged in Gordie's arms.

"Shit. Fuck. Can you get Allie?" Gordie asked Will frantically. Will nodded, helping Allie out of bed. Gordie scooped Nina into his arms. He wasn't all that strong but she wasn't very big either. "Bean, get the car keys."

Will and Bean helped Allie get down the stairs. Gordie trailed behind them, carrying Nina in his arms. They got Nina and Allie into the car and drove them to the clinic. Kelly was waiting for them, a few people already in hospital beds, puking into bowls. Will and Bean helped Allie crawl into a bed while Gordie set Nina in another one. A few minutes later, Nina started convulsing. Kelly ran over and made Gordie help turn Nina on her side.

"Kelly, we need the fucking IVs." Gordie said frantically. Campbell came in carrying Elle and shouting for help.

"I think she had a fit." He told Kelly. They helped get Elle into the bed.  
"Gordie! I'll do the IVs." Kelly shouted. Gordie came back with an IV kit and Kelly struggled to put it in Elle's arm. People shouted for Kelly from all sides of the clinic. She wasn't able to keep up. Becca came into the clinic to find Kelly, too. She was sweaty and Kelly was terrified.

"Are you sick too?" She asked. Becca shook her head no. She was having contractions. Kelly handed the IVs to Gordie, with an instruction to find Sam. Gordie set to work on the IVs. He started with Allie. Once he got hers in, he moved to Nina, then the others.

Nina woke up a few hours later. Grizz was sitting at the foot of her bed, picking at his fingernails nervously. She groaned and he shot up, petting her hair away from her face and making sure she didn't sit up too fast.

"Hey." He said softly. Nina licked her dry lips and swallowed.

"Where were you?" She asked quietly, her throat dry. Grizz smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I didn't know you were sick. My phone was off."

She took a deep breath, ignoring his non answer. The other beds were empty now, aside from Becca. Kelly, Gordie, and Bean were still hanging around.

"Where's Allie?" Nina asked.

"She went home." Grizz said. He pulled his chair closer to her and sat down again. "Kelly said that you could go home too, after you eat something. She's worried about you passing out again. They said you had convulsions… maybe a seizure."

"I feel fine." She lied. Grizz laughed but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Liar." He teased.

"Where were you?" She asked again. Grizz glanced over at Becca and Sam sadly.

"I'll, uh. I'll tell you later, okay? You just focus on getting better so that I can take you home. I got, uh…" He fished around in his pockets and pulled out a long pill bottle. "I got some of those glucose tablets the doctor gave you. And Allie gave you some extra rations."

Nina looked at the small table, seeing the little baggie of Cheez-Its and the giant bottle of Pedialyte for the first time.

"My favorite." She joked. Grizz smiled at her. "This hospital bill is gonna be outrageous."

Grizz rolled his eyes at her attempt at a joke.

"Come on. Eat up."

Grizz took Nina back to Allie's early in the morning. Allie, Will, Bean, and Gordie were already up and hanging out in the living room. He set her up on the chair beside Will, with a blanket she didn't need and more food. Nina forced him to go upstairs and sleep, since she was pretty sure he'd been awake all night.

"How are you feeling?" Bean asked. Nina smiled.

"Like a little bitch." She admitted. "Everyone else was fine but I was totally wiped out."

"It was the low blood sugar thing, though, right?" Gordie asked. Nina nodded.  
"Yeah. All the eating and puking and wine, mixed together. The same thing happened in Freshman year when the cheerleading captain tried to put me on a diet." She said. "What were you guys talking about?"  
"Well, we're pretty sure it wasn't food poisoning." Gordie said. Nina raised an eyebrow. "We think it was actual poison."

"Like, _poison_ poison?" She asked. They all nodded. "That's crazy. Who would do that?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Will said, gesturing at his computer.

"Who's so angry that they would try to kill people?" Bean asked.

"Harry's pissed he had to work." Gordie said. Nina rolled her eyes but Allie defended him before she could.

"No. Harry can't get out of bed. He's not up to poisoning." Allie said.

"Well, the question is: who had the opportunity?" Gordie asked. "Who handled the food?"

"Everyone in the cafeteria. But I just don't think it happened there. I would have seen it." Will said.

"Some people cooked at home." Bean pointed out.

"That's like, 15 different people. Uh, Mickey, at Harry's house, made lemon bars. Elle and Campbell checked out food and then came late." Will said. Nina suddenly remembered Elle being weird about her pie. She said nothing.

"Is it Campbell's style, though?" Gordie asked. "To sneak around? He likes getting credit for his assholery."

"Lexie checked out rations for pumpkin pie." Will said. Allie smirked.

"Lexie cooked at home?" She asked. Will nodded.

"Now do you want to talk to her?" He asked. Allie sighed.

"Okay, I want the Guard to go to the houses of everyone on that list. But I want them to bring Lexie in. Show her that we're serious." Allie decided. Nina felt sick again.

"Hey, Elle got sick too, right? Uh, Grizz said that she got…. Like, convulsions." Nina said.

"Yeah. But, Kelly gave her an IV and she was fine afterwards." Bean said, trying to reassure Nina. Nina smiled in thanks. "Cool. I'm gonna go take a shower."

Nina went upstairs to the bathroom and shut the door. She turned the shower on and pulled out her phone. She tried to call Elle. Elle didn't answer. She tried again and when Elle didn't answer she sent her a text, just asking if she was okay. Nina set her phone on the edge of the sink and showered.

Elle hadn't responded by the time Nina got out. She still hadn't responded by dinner, or when Nina went to bed that night. When Nina got up for breakfast in the morning, Allie told her that she was giving a speech at the town hall. Nina got dressed and went along. Allie, Will, Bean, Shoe, and Gordie were stopped halfway to the church by Lexie.

"Allie, I need to talk to you. Alone." She said. Allie agreed but the two girls only took a few steps away, everyone could still hear them. "Do you know what they did? Jason and Clark. In that fucking wine cellar."

"Um, they asked you questions?" Allie asked boredly.

"No. I got my period and they made me change in front of them." She said. Nina got light-headed. She knew Lexie was innocent. And Jason and Clark probably scared the shit out of her. Fuck. She wanted to reach for Will's hand but she didn't feel like she deserved the comfort.

"Okay, what are you going to do about it?" Lexie demanded.

"Nothing." Allie said.

"They humiliated me." Lexie said. "It was basically torture, Allie."

"They didn't torture you. You got your period." Allie said with a laugh. "There's no shame in that. But people almost died. Get over it."

Allie told her friends to go and they followed her. Nina spared a glance back at Lexie and saw her blinking tears out of her eyes. She couldn't help but feel responsible for what happened to Lexie. She should have said that it was Elle. She knew it was Elle. It had to be. She just didn't know why. And she didn't know who to tell. Especially if Allie was letting the Guard sexually harass girls in a locked wine cellar. She and Clark needed to have a serious fucking talk. And Jason.

Everyone gathered in the church. The tables from Thanksgiving were still set up and people sat around them and on them while Allie explained that she thinks people were poisoned the night of Thanksgiving. Nina sat with Gordie and Bean, unable to keep her eyes off Clark and Jason who were sitting protectively in front of Allie.

"Well, how do we know it was poison?" Gwen asked.

"We don't." Allie said. "We just... You know, we've ruled out any other possibilities, and we're not trying to take any chances."

"Yeah, no shit." Gwen said. "But what the fuck are we gonna do about it now?"

"From now on, no food cooked at home is allowed in any of the common areas. The safest place to eat is the cafeteria. We're just trying to keep people from getting hurt without changing the way we live too much. There's one more thing. It's been five months since my sister died. I know I've added so many rules. And I know I'm adding more right now and I've asked you to do so much. I just think that the person asking you to do all these things, asking you to grow our own food soon, should be given authority by you. A democracy means having elections. So I think that we should have a vote. I think that we should elect a mayor and four council members, that way it's an odd number in case of any ties, and I'm running for mayor. Anyone else who wants to run, just sign up. There'll be an election in three weeks." Allie said.

People talked amongst themselves for a few minutes after Allie dismissed them. Allie, Will, Gordie, Bean, and Jason went back to Allie's house. Nina pulled Clark aside.

"Hey. I need to talk to you." She said. She grabbed onto his arm and dragged him away from the church. Clark shrugged and allowed her to pull him along. Once they got around the corner, he leaned nonchalantly against the wall, his hands shoved in his pockets. Nina tried to find the right words.

"What's up?" Clark finally asked.

"Lexie told us what you did to her in the wine cellar." Nina said. Clark rolled his eyes.

"Bro, we just asked her questions." Clark said.

"She said that you made her change in front of you!" Nina said.

"What were we supposed to do? Just leave her down there alone?" He asked, annoyed.

"Yes! Or call me so that I could be there. You can't- Fuck, Clark. You can't make girls get undressed in front of you when you're their fucking prison guard." Nina said, her voice steadily rising. Clark scoffed.

"It's not like she was naked." He said.

"Oh my god." Nina said angrily. She clenched and unclenched her hands and Clark pushed himself off the wall. "That's not the point. You fucking scared her."

"We made Dewey change in front of us too. Why weren't you mad about that?" He pointed out.

"Because Dewey wasn't a fucking girl that's half your fucking size! Tell me you don't see the difference!" Nina demanded. Clark rolled his eyes again and Nina had the urge to slap him.

"Come on, bro .You know I would never hurt a girl." He said.

"Well, Lexie doesn't fucking know that!" Nina pointed out. "She was scared! How was she supposed to know that you wouldn't hurt her?"  
"You really think I'd do something like that?" Clark asked, genuinely offended.

"No. That's not the point!" Nina said. She wasn't sure if he was being dense on purpose but either way she wanted to throttle him. Clark got annoyed with her again.

"Why aren't you yelling at Jason? He was there too." He said.

"You have a little sister. You should know better." She said. Her eyes shone with angry tears which only pissed her off more.

"Come on." Clark said softly, trying to pull Nina into a hug. She stepped away.

"Don't. Don't touch me." She said quietly.

"Seriously?" Clark asked, suddenly annoyed again. He didn't get why she was so upset. Nina had called Lexie a cunt just a few days ago in front of everyone and now she was suddenly defending her? "This is bullshit."

Clark stormed off, leaving Nina alone behind the church. She was pissed. Her attempt to get Clark to not threaten girls locked in wine cellars backfired and only made things worse. She punched the church wall and winced.

"Ow. Fuck. Why the fuck do boys do that? Fuck. Fucking stupid mother fuckers. Fucking shit." She cradled her hand in her other hand. A few of her knuckles were bleeding from being scraped against the brick wall and her wrist ached. She stomped all the way back to Allie's, not really giving a shit that she looked like a petulant brat. Boys fucking suck.


End file.
